Legal system in USA has warmed his heart to Wikipedia as The New York Times is reporting that more and more judges are using the Wikipedia to find the reference material but still are weary as there are issues of accuracy and reliability.
Being an open platform where anyone can go and edit the material, a simple research on the court decisions will see courts taking references from Wikipedia in matter like definition of ‘beverage’ in a 2005 tax case before Tennessee court which involved thousands of dollars and to a case were the courts seeked the definition of Booty Music being played during the wet T-shirt contest.
Although Supreme Court is still to make a decision with reference to Wikipedia but lower courts have made as many as 100 rulings where they have given reference to this online encyclopedia.
It is a convenient source and is generally up-to-date but the issues like lack of quality control and frequent edits are making the judges weary of it. Again there is also fear that the entries in Wikipedia may be altered to get favorable judgment from court.
Kenneth H. Ryesky who is a tax lawyer and teaches in Queens College and Yeshiva University said in a letter to The New York Law journal reasserted the above fears and said that these citation from a unstable source can undermine the future decisions as courts often when making rulings site pervious judgments.
Still Wikipedia will be a good source as it will be convenient for the parties who read the judgment.
Via: Blogherald
