Tax court trial judge report disclosure ruling [US SC] News
Tax court trial judge report disclosure ruling [US SC]

Ballard v. Commissioner, Supreme Court of the United States, Justice Ginsburg, March 7, 2005 [holding that the US Tax Court must include reports filed by special trial judges in court records available to the parties]. Excerpt:

The Tax Court's practice of not disclosing the special trial judge's original report, and of obscuring the Tax Court judge's mode of reviewing that report, impedes fully informed appellate review of the Tax Court's decision. In directing the Tax Court judge to give "due regard" to the special trial judge's credibility determinations and to "presum[e] … correct" the special trial judge's factfindings, Rule 183(c) recognizes a well-founded, commonly accepted understanding: The officer who hears witnesses and sifts through evidence in the first instance will have a comprehensive view of the case that cannot be conveyed full strength by a paper record.

Read the full the text of the opinion [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Algerian National Liberation Front announces independence campaign

The pro-Algerian independence National Liberation Front released a proclamation on November 1, 1954 announcing the beginning of its campaign for Algerian independence from France, marking the start of the Algerian War. The war would rage for seven years and claim hundreds of thousands of lives until it was ended by the 1962 Évian Accords. Algeria would win its independence on July 3, 1962. Read the full November 1 declaration.

Rent control established in New York City

On November 1, 1943, the federal Office of Price Administration first established rent control in wartime New York City.