Oregon Legal Research Blog
May 7, 2013, UELMA (Uniform Electronic Legal Materials Act) update:
The Judiciary Committee is holding UELMA (HB 2944, Intro) over until Thursday, May 9th, to get some more of their questions answered. (There was a brief hearing on HB 2944 on May 6, 2013.)
UELMA Primer: Authenticating the Law
Authenticity is not just for Zen masters: Buddha rising in Rose City (25 April 2013, by Peter Korn)
“…. I think young people are looking for authenticity,” Green says. “People are getting constantly marketed to, and young people have very well-honed BS detectors. …” (Link to full Portland Tribune article.)
1) UELMA in Oregon requires the official publisher of selected online state legal materials to provide a method for users to know that the online publication is “authentic,” i.e. is unaltered from the official publication.
Example: When you read a section of the Oregon Revised Statutes online, you would be able to determine that it is a true copy of the actual statute – or that it is an official online-only version (for born-digital laws).
2) You can find and read HB 2944 from the Legislature’s homepage (click on “Measure Search”).
3) Read an American Bar Association article in support of UELMA: “ABA Supports Uniform Law for Online Publication of Court Decisions and Laws”
4) Other states: California and Colorado enacted UELMA in 2012. So far this year (May 2013), Minnesota, Hawaii, and North Dakota have enacted UELMA. UELMA is moving through eight other states’ legislatures, including Oregon.
5) Hawaii is the first state to include judicial documents in their UELMA law. (Oregon’s 2013 HB 2944 does not include judicial documents, e.g. court opinions.)
6) Read more about UELMA: AALL UELMA website.
7) Read about the Uniform Law Commission.