The Volokh Conspiracy
[Eugene Volokh, April 15, 2006 at 4:21pm] Trackbacks
Blog Cited Over 20 Times in Court Cases:

Congratulations to Ohio State University law professor Doug Berman, who runs Sentencing Law and Policy; that blog has been cited over 20 times in court cases, according to Ian Best (3L Epiphany). Many (likely most) law professors never get that many court citations for all their law review articles put together, much less for their blog posts.

Ian also points to some other blogs that have been cited in court cases, but Sentencing Law and Policy is far ahead of any other.

JLR (mail):
Mr. Best also notes that
The Volokh Conspiracy was cited once for a song parody, in Suboh v. Borgioli.
Suboh v. Borgioli, 298 F. Supp. 2d 192, 194 (D. Mass. 2004) — it can be read by clicking this link. [Note: it is a PDF file.]

Way to go Volokh Conspiracy!
4.15.2006 5:58pm
Nobody Special:
"Many (likely most) law professors never get that many court citations for all their law review articles put together, much less for their blog posts."

Maybe legal academics should think about this, and realize the value of the vast bulk of them and their production (zero).
4.15.2006 6:29pm
frankcross (mail):
On the plus side, it's not a foreign court.
4.15.2006 6:35pm
Not much:
Modestly related: what is the future of law reviews as a printed-page phenomenon?

I think they take up space and are not often read, by and large. Electronic publication will be the eventual standard, don’t you think?
4.15.2006 8:10pm
Cornellian (mail):
Electronic publication will never replace the printed version until the problem of permanency is solved. When someone gives you a cite to a printed journal, you can always find it and you know what you're getting is exactly what was published, even if it's 50 or 100 years old. With electronic publication, how do you know that what you're viewing hasn't been changed? What happens if the link stops working?
4.15.2006 8:40pm
Brendon (mail):
Are you going to blog about the 9th Circuit's decision about the homeless in LA. I thought it was quite...well just quite!
4.15.2006 9:24pm
Ian Best (mail) (www):
Thank you, Prof. Volokh, for the link!
If any readers of this comment know of other court opinions that cite to legal blogs, please let me know. I have already learned of one that is missing from my list, which I will add soon. - Ian Best (3L Epiphany)
4.15.2006 9:31pm
mike (mail):
forget writing a treatise on contracts, I'll just start a blog...
4.15.2006 10:30pm
Medis:
Doug Berman's blog is really a model of what can be done with a subject-specific legal blog, provided that the owner of the blog has a great deal of personal energy and insight. Particularly with respect to Blakely-Booker issues (which continue to arise with great frequency), his blog is a must-read.
4.16.2006 11:33am
Neal R. (mail):
Sentencing Law and Policy has been indispensible on Blakey / Booker issues, and I suspect the vast majority of the citations are on that subject. I was clerking when Blakely came out and knew a bunch of Blakely-obsessed law clerks (myself included) who were checking that site several times a day.
4.17.2006 1:11pm

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