TWO CENTURIES OF LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE
From the early days of the Republic, the New York Official Reports have held an eminent position in the literature of American jurisprudence, and the official reporters and their colleagues have rendered extraordinary service to the nation, state, and legal profession.
LEADERSHIP IN OFFICIAL REPORTING
The importance of the New York Official Reports, even beyond the boundaries of New York State, long has been recognized, and New York’s reporters have been recognized leaders in official reporting.
- On the retirement of William Johnson as Reporter, Justice Joseph Story of the Supreme Court of the United States wrote that Johnson’s reports "will form an era, not merely in the jurisprudence of New York, but of America.
- New York judicial decisions continue to be the most-frequently consulted and cited state court decisions in American law.
- New York has provided two presidents of the Association of Reporters of Judicial Decisions, the international professional organization of official reporters: Frederick A. Muller and Charles A. Ashe.
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Left: Newspaper clipping from the New York Statesman, April 30, 1823, regarding William Johnson's retirement as Reporter. This article was affixed to Chancellor Kent's personal copy of Johnson's Reports. The strike-out is Kent's, indicating his disagreement with a statement in the article. |
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Left:
Portrait of Justice Joseph Story by George P.A. Healy. Courtesy of the Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States |
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JURISTS
Six official reporters have gone on to high judicial office.
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Left:
Edward J. Dimock, District Court Judge for the Southern District of N.Y. Photograph at 648 Fed Supp lxxxv |
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