The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process Volume 3 Issue 1 Article 19 2001 Are Some Words Better Left Unpublished?: Precedent and the Role of Unpublished Decisions K.K. DuVivier Follow this and additional works at: https://lawrepository.ualr.edu/appellatepracticeprocess Part of the Common Law Commons, and the Courts Commons Recommended Citation K.K. DuVivier, Are Some Words Better Left Unpublished?: Precedent and the Role of Unpublished Decisions, 3 J. APP. PRAC. & PROCESS 397 (2001). Available at: https://lawrepository.ualr.edu/appellatepracticeprocess/vol3/iss1/19 This document is brought to you for free and open access by Bowen Law Repository: Scholarship & Archives. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process by an authorized administrator of Bowen Law Repository: Scholarship & Archives. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. ARE SOME WORDS BETTER LEFT UNPUBLISHED?: PRECEDENT AND THE ROLE OF UNPUBLISHED DECISIONS K.K. DuVivier* INTRODUCTION In the summer of 2000, a three-judge panel of the Eighth Circuit issued a decision that, if followed nationwide, could cripple our court system. In that decision, Anastasoff v. United States,' the Eighth Circuit determined that the portion of its Rule 28A(i) providing that unpublished opinions could be cited but were not binding as precedent, was unconstitutional. The selective designation of some opinions as unpublished is a fairly recent phenomenon for courts.' However, in the two * Copyright © 2001 by K.K. DuVivier. Ms. DuVivier is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Lawyering Process Program at the University of Denver College of Law. She has been chair and vice-chair of the Colorado Bar Association's Appellate Practice Subcommittee since 1996, and she has served as the Reporter of Decisions for the Colorado Court of Appeals.