568
The Green Bag
been years behind its docket ever since I had been a member of the bar, that I was interested to ascertain the reason, and I found that for many years the Court had
preparation of written opinions giving pecially reasons for in the the afi‘irmance conclusionsofreached, judgments, es—
refrained from writing opinions except
shall be discretionary; and the Court may, in its option, dispense therewith
in cases which in their judgment were
in such cases as it shall be so advised.
important as precedents.
This suggests that yourSupreme Court has held, in harmony with other states, that the requiring of written opinions as to its reasons in decisions was discre
I have been interested in observing that our legal brethren in Colorado are confronted with the same problems in regard to remedying the delays in the administration of justice and the relief of
your Supreme Court which have con fronted us in Missouri. I find that your Supreme Court, though you have had
since the admission of the state to the Union the same reform code of procedure which has been adopted in other states, as in my own, is still some three years behind its docket. That has to me a fa~ miliar sound, as that same condition exists in Missouri, although we have had inter mediate appellate courts for many years, and a recent session of our legislature
established a third; not temporary as in your state in the recent act, but per manent. We also tried once, some twenty years ago, the experiment of commissions to assist the court in the writing of
opinions, and this same expedient has been resorted to by our last General Assembly. I cannot advise you from our experience that your remedy will be effectual, as we have found both of these remedies, that of intermediate courts and of commissions, ineffectual, though
they may seem to palliate the evils of the existing congestion. I am particu larly impressed with one provision of your act of the recent General Assembly, in relation to Courts of Review, which
tionary with the court.
This was un
doubtedly the rule at common
law.
Thus it was said by Lord Coke, Coke's Reports, Part III, pref. 5, "In the judicial records of the King's Courts, the reasons or causes of the judgments are not ex pressed, but wise and learned men do, before they judge, labor to reach to the
depth of all the reasons of the case in question, but in their judgment express
not any; and, in truth, if judges should set down the reasons and causes of their judgment within every record, that im
mense labor should withdraw them from the necessary service of the Common
wealth, and their records should grow to be like Elephantini Libri, of infinite length, and in mine opinion, lose some what of their present authority and reverence; and this is also worthy for learned and grave men to imitate.”
If my Lord Coke had this apprehen sion of the Elephann'm' Libri in the mea
gre libraries of his time, what would he have thought could he have looked centuries ahead and foreseen the many thousands of law books which are now
searched for judicial precedents?
Well
may he consider his words, that these records would lose some of their present authority and reverence.
tion. Thus it is provided in section 7 of
Blackstone says on this subject (Book I, p. 71), that the reports are histories of the several cases, with a short summary of the proceedings which are preserved at
the act referred to, with reference to the proposed Court of Appeals, that the
both sides and the reasons of the Court
indicates, and may be effective, that its
framers had a clear perception of the causes of the evils of the present situa
large in the record, the arguments of
