Schmier v. Supreme Court of California

Under California Rule of Court 8.1105, only Court of Appeal opinions meeting certain criteria -- such as establishing a new rule, resolving a legal conflict, or addressing an issue of continuing public interest -- are published and citable as precedent, while unpublished opinions remain publicly accessible online but cannot be cited as authority, though any member of the public may request publication. Michael Schmier (plaintiff) sued the Supreme Court of California, the Court of Appeal, and the Judicial Council (defendants), seeking to force publication of all opinions, arguing the selective-publication rule violated due process and equal protection by creating unlawful selective prospectivity and conflicted with a California statute making English common law the default rule of decision; the trial court dismissed the suit.