Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States

The Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States is the official charged with editing and publishing the opinions of the Supreme Court of the United States, both when announced and when they are published in permanent bound volumes of the United States Reports. The reporter is responsible for only the contents of the United States Reports issued by the Government Printing Office, first in preliminary prints and later in the final bound volumes.[1] The reporter is not responsible for the editorial content of unofficial reports of the Court's decisions, such as the privately published Supreme Court Reporter and Lawyers' Edition.

Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States
Seal of the Supreme Court
Incumbent
Rebecca Anne Womeldorf
since January 13, 2021
Supreme Court of the United States
StyleReporter
StatusEditor-in-chief
Publisher
Reports toSupreme Court of the United States
Chief Justice of the United States
SeatSupreme Court Building, Washington, D.C.
AppointerThe Supreme Court
Term lengthNo fixed term
Constituting instrument28 U.S.C. § 673
Formation1817
First holderAlexander J. Dallas
Websitewww.supremecourt.gov

By federal statute, the reporter is appointed by the Supreme Court.[2] The office was most recently occupied by Christine Luchok Fallon, the first woman to hold the office, and will be succeeded by Rebecca Anne Womeldorf in January 2021.[3]

History

The first two reporters acted in an unofficial capacity. Only in 1817 did Congress create the statutory office of reporter, with a $1,000 a year salary. The early reporters profited from selling the printed volumes of the reports of decisions. In 1874, Congress for the first time appropriated funds to publish the volumes of the court's opinions; from that time the report was known as the United States Reports and numbering began as if the first volume by the first reporter, Alexander J. Dallas, was number one. The Government Printing Office took over publication of the United States Reports in 1922. The title of Court's reporter was changed to "Reporter of Decisions" in 1953, to clarify the duties of the office.[4]

List of reporters

The 16 Reporters of Decisions are listed here with their tenures and the volumes of the United States Reports they edited. Through volume 90, the volumes were also known by the name of the reporter and the numbers of those "nominative reports" are listed after the United States Reports numbers.

NameTenureVolumes edited
1Alexander J. Dallas1790 – 18001–4 (1–4 Dallas)
2William Cranch1801 – 18155–13 (1–9 Cranch)
3Henry Wheaton1816 – 182714–25 (1–12 Wheat.)
4Richard Peters1828 – 184226–41 (1–16 Pet.)
5Benjamin Chew Howard1843 – 186042–65 (1–24 How.)
6Jeremiah S. Black1861 – 186266–67 (1–2 Black)
7John William Wallace1863 – 187468–90 (1–23 Wall.)
8William Tod Otto1875 – 188391–107
9J. C. Bancroft Davis1883 – 1902108–186
10Charles Henry Butler1902 – 1916187–241
11Ernest Knaebel1916 – 1944242–321
–
Office vacant1944 – 1946322–325[lower-alpha 1]
12Walter Wyatt1946 – 1963326–375
13Henry Putzel Jr.1964 – 1979376–444
14Henry Curtis Lind1979 – 1987445–479
15Frank D. Wagner1987 – September 30, 2010[5]480–561
16Christine Luchok FallonMarch 3, 2011[5] – September 25, 2020562–591
17Rebecca Anne WomeldorfJanuary 13, 2021[6] – present
Source:[7]
  1. Volumes 322–325 (1944-1946) were retroactively edited by Walter Wyatt after he became Reporter of Decisions in 1946.

See also

References
  1. See: 28 U.S.C. § 673c
  2. See: 3 Stat. 376
  3. Arberg, Kathleen (March 7, 2011). "Christine L. Fallon Named Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the U.S." Washington, D.C.: Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  4. "Court Officers and Staff: Reporter of Decisions". fjc.gov. Washington, D.C.: Federal Judicial Center. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
  5. "Christine L. Fallon Named Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the U.S." (Press release). Supreme Court of the United States. March 7, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  6. "Rebecca Womeldorf Named Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the U.S." (Press release). Supreme Court of the United States. December 28, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  7. Joyce, Craig. "Reporters of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States". Public Law and Legal Theory Series 2005-A-11. Houston, Texas: University of Houston Law Center. SSRN 800884. Retrieved February 23, 2020. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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