The slip opinions of the U.S. Court of Appeals were selected as an example. This task force was lead by Gary Bowden, Administrative Office of the Courts. This preliminary report of the task force is being made available for review and comment. All production of opinions are handled locally by the individual courts of appeals.
All policy regarding production and distribution is made by the appellate court.
Access to appellate opinions is available in both print and electronic format. Historically, the courts have provided hard copies of slip opinions to interested law schools within the circuit, often in exchange for free subscriptions to the law journal from the school. Other non-profit organizations also have received free subscriptions to the published opinions. Opinions always have been available to the public in the circuit libraries. Electronic access to appellate opinions is available through a variety of sources.