Report

1. (1) An official statement of the facts, or of the facts, proceedings, and law, in a case: as, the report of — an auditor, a commissioner, a master, a receiver, or viewers, qq. v. (2) A published volume of judicial decisions; a volume of reported cases; a judicial report. 0£Q.cial report. A report prepared and published under the authority of law, and by direction of the judge or judges of a court.

Unofllcial report

A report published by an uncommissioned person. In most of the States, statutes have been passed providing for the selection of the cases, the size of volume, the printing by contract, the sale, etc., of the authorized reports. Reports may be of cases upon every branch of jurisprudence, or illustrative of the law of a particular subject. The expression State reports is contrasted with Federal or United States reports. Particular series take their names from the name of the court or courts; as.

Supreme Court reports

Court of Appeals repeats. Circuit and District Court reports. They are sometimes spoken of as the higher and the lower reports; and, from the grade of the court, as law reports and equity reports, the former, too, being either civil or criminal reports, or of the nature of both species. -Side reports is occasionally used in contradistinction to the regular or official reports of a State. While foreign reports are designated by the name of the country in which they originate, or from which they come, as, English, Irish, Scotch, or Canadian, the reports of all countries, and of each of our States,— of any separate or special jurisdiction, are very frequently cited by the name of the person under whose special supervision they are, or have been, collated, indexed, and otherwise prepared. Again, some volumes or series of volumes have also been named after the name of the 1 Crogate's Case, 8 Coke. 138 (1609): 2Sm.

L. C, H. & W., 247; Taylor v. Cole, 1 id.

262, 267-73, cases", Ersjudge whose opinions they preserve, chiefly or ex;clusively. A reported case comprises a summary of the points decided, called the syllabus or head-note; a statement of the essential facts in the case, and of the arguments of counsel; and the opinion of the court. Nothing can be so various, as respects grade of merit, as the English reports prior to 1775. Anterior to 1800, there were but two or three American reports.^ In the absence of express legislation to the contrary, the reporter of court decisions is entitled to a copyright on his volumes for whatever is the work of his Own mind and hand.^ The decisions of the court are public property, and may be published freely by any person whatever,' See Mantjsokipt. The decisions of the courts are the authorized expositions of the laws — unwritten and statutory. Every citizen, being bound to know the law, should have free access to the opinions; and it is against public policy to withhold the earliest knowledge of them, as it would be of the statutes. The opinions, after delivery, belong to the public* The judge who writes an opinion is not an " author " or " proprietor " within Eev. St. § 4952, so that the State can become his assignee and take out a copyright.' - Reporter. (1) A person who prepares decisions for publication.

State reporter

An official who edits and publishes the decisions of the highest court of a State. (2) A periodical devoted to the publication of reports, perhaps with annotations from other cases. (3) A person who stenographs a witness's testimony or the charge of a judge.

See Stenographee.

Unreported..

Said of a decision either not printed in any law publication or else not officially so published.

See AuTHOBiTT, 3; Case, 2; Decision; Precedent, 8. 3.

As to reporting news, see Newspaper.