Oklahoma Law Review Volume 59 Number 2 2006 Building Law, Not Libraries: The Value of Unpublished Opinions and Their Effects on Precedent Anika C. Stucky Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.ou.edu/olr Part of the Civil Procedure Commons Recommended Citation Anika C. Stucky, Building Law, Not Libraries: The Value of Unpublished Opinions and Their Effects on Precedent, 59 OKLA. L. REV. 403 (2006), https://digitalcommons.law.ou.edu/olr/vol59/iss2/5 This Comment is brought to you for free and open access by University of Oklahoma College of Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Oklahoma Law Review by an authorized editor of University of Oklahoma College of Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Building Law, Not Libraries: The Value of Unpublished Opinions and Their Effects on Precedent* I. Introduction Over the past ten years, Americans have called on the federal and state judiciaries to settle an increasing number of disputes.1 Many factors contribute to the rise in case filings, but a rise in criminal appeals and immigration proceeding appeals in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have demonstrably contributed to the increase.2 In response, courts have turned to the unpublished opinion as one method of managing the increased caseload. For example, in the twelve-month period ending September 30, 2005, the federal circuit courts filed 29,913 opinions in cases terminated on the merits.3 Of those opinions, 24,411 were unpublished, representing 81.6% of the total opinions filed.4 The United States Court of Appeals for the First * The author would like to thank Professor Mary Margaret Penrose for her assistance, advice, and encouragement throughout the author,s law school experience, especially during the writing of this comment.