Judicial citation to Wikipedia in published federal court opinions

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Citation: Morgan Michele Stoa (2009) Judicial citation to Wikipedia in published federal court opinions.
Internet Archive Scholar (search for fulltext): Judicial citation to Wikipedia in published federal court opinions
Tagged: library & information science (RSS), LIS (RSS), wikipedia (RSS), citations (RSS), judicial opinion (RSS), legal citations (RSS)

Summary

This Master's thesis discusses the use of Wikipedia by judges, in U.S. court decisions, despite various problems with using Wikipedia for citation. Citations are extremely important in law, in establishing what is appropriate to cite: citations are used again, in later court decisions. "When a judge cites a particular source, she is indicating—intentionally or unintentionally—that the source is persuasive, legitimate authority" Legal researchers have discussed the advantages of Wikipedia as well as its disadvantages, but regardless, citations are increasing. This study examines the types of citations being used, and concludes that a third of citations are about issues central to the case.

In one landmark case -- Basada v. Mukasey (2008) -- "an immigration judge denied Basada asylum because the documents she submitted did not prove her identity", based in part on evidence from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, from the Wikipedia article on laissez-passer. The decisions was sustained in an appeal: even though Wikipedia was not an appropriate source, they agreed that the decision was supported by other evidence. In another case, Cobell v. Kempthorne (2008), the Wikipedia article was cited in the decision itself, as a place to get "Cliff Notes" on the ongoing debate, with the disclaimer that “the Court, of course, cannot vouch for its accuracy”.

Theoretical and Practical Relevance

Legal citations to Wikipedia are increasing, and the author concludes that one third of such citations relate to issues central to the case.

This was published in an open access journal.