Thursday, March 13, 2003
Page 4
State Supreme Court Opinion Depublications Down, Court Reports
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Depublication orders by the state Supreme Court have fallen steadily over the last dozen years, according to statistics released yesterday by the Administrative Office of the Courts.
In 2001-02, the high court ordered 23 cases depublished, a new low since 1980. The top years for depublication orders were the mid-1980s, when the average number was well over 100.
The court depublished 154 cases in 1983-84.
Depublished orders are Court of Appeal opinions the Court of Appeal has certified for publication but that the Supreme Court, acting under its constitutional power over publication, orders not published in the official reports. Such opinions may not be cited or relied on except in limited circumstances.
The statistics are available on the California Courts Web site at www.courtinfo.ca.gov/reference/documents/ depubstats98-02.pdf.
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