Kentucky Court Report - SCOKY & COAKY

Input requested on minutes format

Input requested regarding short digests of introductory paragraphs of published decisions added to the posts of the published minutes of the COA and SCOKY.

A few months ago, I thought it useful to copy and paste the opening paragraphs from each of the published decisions into my postings of the minutes.

Please let me know if a. appreciated and helpful or b. no big deal and I can quit doing it or c. do it just for the SC decisions.

The post links to the minutes which has the names, case nos. etc with links to the text of each decision (published and nonpublished).

If I do not get favorable input, I plan on cutting back this experiment.

Projected 2010 Changes to the Kentucky Court Report - No more individual posts of criminal law decisions. All else remains the same.

Planned format change beginning 2010.

I am going to stop providing individual posts to the criminal law decisions effective with those decisions published in 2010.  I will continue to making the following posts:

• Links to the minutes for the COA and SC which will contain links to the full text of the published decisions (civil and criminal cases)
• Short digest of the published decisions (civil only) in each posting of the minutes
• Monthly case summaries of the COA and SC
• Monthly argument calendars for COA and SC
• Monthly postings of the discretionary review grants for the SCOKY
• Videos of any SC arguments that I either 'rip' as made or am provided by counsel

The only thing that will be missing is the individual postings of published criminal law decisions (which will still be found in the COA and SC monthly summaries provided by AOC).

I hope you can live with this minor change.  It will cut my computer time in half!

I practice civil law exclusively now.  When I was an Army JAG I did criminal law but that was a long, long time ago.

And still the best bargain on the net.  Free.

BLOG UPDATE: Recent posts are dated

As you noted, I am currently behind on the posts.

The good news is that the Minutes, Argument Calendars, and Monthly Summaries are and have been current.

The bad news is the individual cases that have been published in those monthly summaries has been spotty.

The good news is that all the COA published decisions as contained in the monthly summaries have been posted individually and organized by topics of "COA Decisions 2009" and the subject matter of the decision.

The bad news is that I am only up to the end of February for SCOKY.  I promise to catch these up before I hit my 56th birthday!  (psst.... you will have to trust me on the date).

I have been a little spotty on the discretionary review grants (leaning towards the image from the minutes rather than the actual post of html text).

Now that I have confessed my sins and transgressions, I ask not for forgiveness but suggestions on how to improve this blog. 

Please feel free to post constructive criticism and ideas (in good taste and within PG-13 guidelines).

And please let me know if the short openings listed on the minutes with links to the pubished decisions only in our postings to the minutes is helpful.  I usually get the minutes out within days, and thought the short note from the court's first paragraph would be useful as we/you/I wait for the monthly summaries.

Thanks to all.

Michael L. Stevens

You can email me at this blawg by clicking on the link at the top of the left-hand column.

Published Decisions - Will try and update and post them separately

When we/I began relying solely upon the monthly published decision summaries of the appellate courts (SCOKY and COA), we not only quit digesting the published decisions but also quit posting them individually as posts.

I believe I have figured out how to copy and paste the decisions from the summaries and link to the full text.

Again, no promises.

Please note as of January 1, 2009, all digested decisions are those from the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals monthly summaries unless otherwise indicated.  Thus, I will not be posting an attribution link for each post.

I am also going to "date" the posts to the date of the decision rather than  the date of the post for ease of use in locating same.

BLOG UPDATE: Digests of published decisions

Effective immediately and unless otherwise noted, all summaries and digests of published decisions of the Supreme Court of Kentucky and the Court of Appeals of Kentucky will be from the published summaries found at the AOC web site.  If these are individual digested or contain editorial remarks, such will be noted.

BLOG UPDATE -- SCOKY December 2008 summaries not yet posted at AOC

I have been asked when will we post the summaries of the published decisions of the Supreme Court of Kentucky for Dec. 2008?

Answer:  When they are posted on line, then we will post them.

The COA has already posted their monthly summaries of published decisions for Dec. 2008.

The SCOKY has not.

2009 Changes in Kentucky Court Report Format and Kudos to our volunteer lawyers upon their "retirement"

In light of the new monthly case summaries of published decisions  being prepared by the AOC and which are available at their web site,  the "Kentucky Court Report" is now changing its format and much of our editorial staff is "retiring" (but with no retirement pay as some;).  Some of our editors will continue their digests, but we have had a great run of volunteer work (nearly 6 years for some!!!), and it is time for them to retire their "pens" and move to other endeavors.

I thank each and every one of them for an outstanding job and service to the legal community.  Much is being said and written about "mentoring", but when you think of the volunteer work of these fine lawyers, each highly competent and experienced in their respective fields, who provided this outstanding analysis to the bar, the term "mentor" comes to mind.  Each of these lawyers can claim to have mentored thousands of lawyers in this state!

When you see them from time to time, do me a really big favor and thank them individually for the fine work they have done.  They have served as examples of how a few selfless individuals can make a difference and show others and the AOC on how to use the Internet in providing services to bar.

In a blawgosphere where most web blogs are hit or miss renditions of opinions and commentary, we have provided and will continue to provide a publishing service rarely equaled elsewhere.

Yes, I am proud of the work they have done, and am not embarrassed to say it.  Without them, the Kentucky Court Report (fka Kentucky Cases and the Louisville LawWire would have been a pale imitation of what it is now).  I hope we can continue.

Their names are:

• Chad Kessinger
  Torts, Insurance, Civil Law
• Cherry Guarnieri
  Civil Procedure
• Greg Napier
  Business Law
• Hays Lawson
  Sovereign immunity, Government Law
• James Worthington
  Wills, Estates, Trusts, and Probate Law
• John Hamlet
  Torts, Insurance, Civil Procedure
• Michael Stevens
  Personal injury, torts, insurance, civil procedure; Senior Editor
• Michelle Eisenmenger Mapes
  Family Law, Divorce; Indiana & Kentucky
• Paul O'Bryan
  Real estate, Family Law, Wills & Estates, Bankruptcy Law
• Peter Naake
  Workers Compensation
• Sam Hinkle
  Zoning, Condemnation, Eminent Domain Law
• Scott Byrd
  Criminal Law

The following changes will become effective with decisions announced in 2009 from the Kentucky Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals:

• The monthly summaries of published decisions from the SC and the COA will now be posted.
• The published decisions of the COA will not be published/posted separately as before.
• The published decisions of the SCOKY will continue to be posted separately as before but will be the digested summaries from the AOC and what are contained in the monthly digests/summaries.
• The minutes will be posted as before, but simply with a link to the AOC minutes by date and organized by COA Minutes and SCOKY Minutes under the categories.
• The COA argument calendars will be posted in the form of a link to the minutes filed at the AOC web site.  Cutting and pasting these minutes into these posts will end.
• The  SCOKY argument calendars will be posted as before with dates, times, cases, issues, counsel, AND links to the briefs at Chase School of Law AND links to the underlying COA decision if one exists.
• If we receive any videos of arguments from SC or COA, then we will either post the entire "streaming video" of the argument if it is one we have converted or any links to the argument posted elsewhere.  Presumably, these will be SCOKY arguments, and we will post with the link the date, time, case name, case number, date of discretionary review, trial judge name, and the issue before the court.

These changes will not detract from the information you have been receiving before. 

Probably the most significant change is using the monthly summaries in lieu of the individual COA posts.  I may try cutting and pasting them as separate posts early on to see if it is that much of a time problem.

Some of the categories on the side column will be:

• COA Argument Calendars - 2009
• COA Decisions - 2008 and older
• COA Monthly Case Summary Reports
• SCOKY Argument Calendars - 2009
• SCOKY Decisions - 2008 and older
• SCOKY Monthly Case Summary Reports

BLOG UPDATE: Technical Difficulties Corrected re: Email Subscriptions

I apologize for apparently "inactivating" the email subscription feature at this site.  The problem has been corrected, and I thank you for your patience.

Site Musings: How this site is organized

The official site at the Administrative Office of the Courts contains the following information and pages that we monitor and then post as appropriate:

• Press releases or official news dispatches
• Minutes from rendition days, or the day the court announces the orders and decisions - published not to be published).  SCOKY issues minutes ONCE a month (3rd Thursday each month except for vacation in July).  COAKY issues minutes each Friday of the month.
• Argument calendars. Posted a few months in advance.
• Decisions.  Published and not for publication decisions are posted in complete text which is searchable when the minutes are announced.  SCOKY decisions go back to 1999 and COAKY back to 1996.
• Orders (whenever found since no press release accompanies these).
• Announcements or news when noted on the site or right side of their main page.

How, when and what we post:

• The minutes are posted within days of their rendition.  We link to the minutes index at the site, and our own index copy which highlights the published decisions.  This announcementn of the minutes identies the date of the decisions, the numbers of those published, and for a while we are keeping a running tab of the senior status judges roles in those published decisions.
• The arguments are posted at the beginning of the month with a link to the actual argument page from the AOC.
• We are trying to post more detailed information on each argument the week before, to include dates and times, locations, case and issues.
• Each PUBLISHED decision is posted as a separate blog entry after it has been digested by one of the editors.  The decision name, link to full text, action, presiding judge, date, key word description, and summary of the decision.  The editor digesting this decision is also noted.
• The Louisville LawWire is a compilation of the decisions.  It is published separately and contains a link to the minutes for that week, the published decisions (with the same information from the digested post), and the "Not to be Published" decisions with a short key word desctiption and link to the decision.   The value of this is that you have a quick run-down on the decisions rendered in one post.  The Lawwire is stored at a separate site with a link from the site.  The Lawwire is published in "html" and "pdf" format.  The latter for those who wish to print it and read it at their leisure or post in a binder.

Each page is organized with:

• Listing of the categories upon which we organize the posts (the decisions are posted by court (SCOKY and COAKY) and subject matter (Criminal); the minutes are listed in a separate category, as well as Lawwire and arguments).  By clicking on category you can filter out just those cases and posts under that subject category.
• Listing of the most recent posts.
• LIsting of the most recent comments.
• Listing of the editors who volunteer their time and effort in providing this service.

The Kentucky Law Review (at www.KentuckyLawBlog.com) is more of a running commentary and posting on news, cases, and other items of import in Kentucky with links announcing the posting of the minutes and LawWire.

The Kentucky Cases at www.KyCAses.com (to be renamed shortly to the Kentucky Court Report) is akin to nearly official site of information with minimal or no editorial commentary or pieces.

Electronic "advance sheets" for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals are posted weekly in a table format with case names, court, date, short description of decisions, and link to full text and are published weekly.  See. www.SixthCircuitCases.com

Both sites have separate RSS and Email subscription fees.

Just thought you would like to know.

400 Email Subscriptions!

Great news.

We now have exceeded 400 email subscriptions to the www.KyCAses.com updates!

That is NOT counting the visitors who show up via search engines or serindipitously or use an RSS reader.

Thank you for showing that this does work.