Black & Decker Opinion

Yesterday, Judge Quarles of the United States District Court for the District 
of Maryland issued an opinion in a tax case involving Black & Decker.  The 
case had been closely watched by the tax bar and the business press for 
some time.  Indeed, a report of the case made the New York Times this 
morning and, I assume, other major mainline press outlets as well.

Yet, you cannot go to the website of the USDC and obtain a copy of the 
case.  This is not because the site lacks an area where opinions are posted.  
To the contrary, it has quite a good posting area with some search capacity.  
The reason that you can't find the opinion is that most of the judges do not 
regularly post their opinions there. If you do a quick and dirty survey of the 
opinions that are posted, Judges Chasanow and Motz have posted the 
lions' (i.e., multiple lions) share of opinions.  Some judges have posted 
virtually none.

I wonder whether this practice is common in other districts.  It seems to me 
that one of the jewels of the judicial system in this country is that, because 
of published opinions setting forth the rationale for their actions, courts 
achieve a higher level of transparency that the other branches of 
government.  As citizens we have the right to expect the courts to publish 
their opinions in a manner that is as accessible (meaning, you shouldn't 
have to pay for them) as possible.

********************************************
Stuart Levine
Fisher & Winner, LLP
315 North Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
Telephone:             410.385.2000
Telecopier:              443.927.7075
Cellphone:               410.802.5817
Weblog:  http://taxbiz.blogspot.com
http://www.taxation-business.com
[email protected]
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