Rules v. Appellate Procedure
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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF MISSISSIPPI
NO. 89-R-99027 SCT
IN RE: MISSISSIPPI RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE
ORDER
This matter came before the Court sitting en banc on the Court's own motion to amend Rule 28(e)
and the Comment to Rule 28 of the Mississippi Rules of Appellate Procedure. The Court finds that
the amendments will promote the fair and efficient administration of justice and will, specifically,
promote the use of electronic systems by allowing citation of opinions in electronic format.
IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED that Rule 28(e) and the Comment to Rule 28 of the Mississippi
Rules of Appellate Procedure be and the same are hereby amended to read as follows:
(e) References in Briefs to the Record and Citations. All briefs shall be keyed by reference to
page numbers (1) to the record excerpts filed pursuant to Rule 30 of these Rules, and (2) to the
record itself. Furthermore, all Mississippi cases shall be cited to both the Southern Reporter
and, in cases decided prior to 1967, the official Mississippi Reports. Quotations from cases and
authorities appearing in the text of the brief shall be preceded or followed by a reference to the
book and page where the quotation appears.
(1) From and after July 1, 1997, the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals shall assign
paragraph numbers to the paragraphs in all published opinions. The paragraph numbers shall
begin at the first paragraph of the text of the majority opinion and shall continue sequentially
throughout the majority opinion and any concurring or dissenting opinions in the order that the
opinions are arranged by the Court.
(2) All Mississippi cases shall be cited to either:
(i) the Southern Reporter and, in cases decided prior to 1967, the official Mississippi Reports
(e.g., Smith v. Jones, 699 So.2d 100 (Miss. 1997)); or
(ii) for cases decided from and after July 1, 1997, the case numbers as assigned by the Clerk's
Office (e.g., Smith v. Jones, 95-KA-01234-SCT (Miss. 1997)).
(3) Quotations from cases and authorities appearing in the text of the brief shall be cited in one
of the following ways:
(i) preceded or followed by a reference to the book and page in the Southern Reporter and/or
the Mississippi Reports where the quotation appears (e.g., Smith v. Jones, 699 So.2d 100, 102
(Miss. 1997)); or
(ii) in cases decided from and after July 1, 1997, preceded or followed by a reference to the
case number assigned by the Clerk's Office and paragraph number where the quotation appears
(e.g., Smith v. Jones, 95-KA-01234-SCT (¶1) (Miss. 1997)); or
(iii) in cases decided from and after July 1, 1997, preceded or followed by a reference to the
book and paragraph number in the Southern Reporter where the quotation appears (e.g., Smith
v. Jones, 699 So. 2d 100 (¶1) (Miss. 1997)); or
(iv) in cases decided prior to July 1, 1997, preceded or followed by a reference to the case
number assigned by the Clerk's Office and paragraph number where the quotation appears when
the case is added to the Court's Internet web site in the new format, i.e., with paragraph
numbers (e.g., Smith v. Jones, 93-CA-05678-SCT (¶1) (Miss. 1995)); or
(v) preceded or followed by a parallel citation using both the book citation and the case number
citation.
Comment
Rule 28 is based upon Fed. R. App. P. 28 and 5th Cir. R. 28.2.1, 28.2.2. If a party states issues
under Rule 28(a)(3) not included in a statement required by Rule 10(b)(4), that party will bear
responsibility for the cost of preparing any additional portions of the record subsequently
designated by any other party in response to the statement of additional issues.
In cross-appeals, the response of the appellant to the cross-appeal is to be combined with the
appellant's reply. The combined brief is treated as a principal brief under Rule 28(g) which
governs page lengths.
Rule 28(e) requires parallel citations prior to 1967 because the Southern Reporter is the official
reporter only for decisions published since 1966. Any party filing a brief citing an unreported
decision from another court should also file a copy of the decision with the clerk of the
Supreme Court.
Rule 28(e) adopts a citation standard which is in the public domain. The new citation standard
is both vendor neutral and media neutral. A vendor neutral citation is one which does not
contain vendor-specific information, and a media neutral citation is one which is not tied to a
particular format. The citation Smith v. Jones, 699 So.2d 100 (Miss. 1997), for example, is
neither vendor neutral nor media neutral. However, the citation Smith v. Jones, 95-KA-01234SCT (Miss. 1997) is both vendor neutral and media neutral. The basis for the adoption of a new
citation standard is to allow citation of cases which appear in electronic format in addition to
citation of cases which appear in print.
An original Rule 28(j) letter should be submitted with three copies. Rule 28(l) governs briefs
other than briefs on the merits controlled by Rules 28(a), (b), and (c).
The provisions of Rule 28(m) apply only to briefs on the merits of an appeal and not to
memoranda and briefs filed in support of or in opposition to motions and petitions seeking less
than relief on the merits of appeals. This provision, while not mandatory in its application, was
adopted to encourage the filing of disk copies.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a certified copy of this order shall be forwarded by the Clerk of
this Court to West Publishing Company for publication as promptly as reasonably possible in the
advance sheets of the Southern Reporter, Second Series, and on the internet site of the Supreme
Court, both being the official reporters of cases decided in these Courts, and in the Mississippi Rules
of Court.
SO ORDERED, this the ______ day of December, 1997.
____________________________________
FOR THE COURT
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