When attorney Howard Bashman noticed a small error in the footnote of a 5th Circuit appellate court opinion, he quickly noted it on his weblog.
The next day, Judge Jerry Smith, who wrote the opinion and also happens to be a reader of Bashman's blog, fixed the error in an amended version (PDF). The judge e-mailed Bashman, personally thanking him for bringing the mistake to his attention.
"It's the first time that I've noticed a weblog credited for pointing out an error and causing a correction (in a court decision)," Bashman said. "This example is noteworthy because it's the first time that something like this has come to light."
In the initial ruling (PDF), the court struck down a San Antonio, Texas, ordinance prohibiting adult video stores from setting up shop within 1,000 feet of a residential area.
A former clerk for the 3rd Circuit, Bashman noticed that a ruling mentioned in a footnote was misidentified.
He pointed out the error, noting that "the references to the 3rd Circuit contained in footnote 17 of the opinion may be in error, because the opinion, in context, appears to be referring back to decisions from the 8th and 10th Circuits, and not the 3rd."
The next day, Bashman received an e-mail from Smith stating, "You were the first to spot the error in footnote 17. Thanks. I have fixed it."
While Bashman acknowledges that the judge probably would have amended the error no matter how it was brought to his attention, Bashman was still surprised by the judge's e-mail.
"In my opinion, Judge Smith is regarded as one of the top-notch federal appellate judges in the nation and it's an honor to have him reading my weblog," Bashman said.
Like many other courts, the 5th Circuit makes its opinions available instantly online.
However, the courts' websites don't always make it easy to get in touch with specific judges.
Bashman's blog gathers interesting appellate decisions from any court in the nation. His audience includes reporters, law clerks and employees of the Supreme Court and federal courts across the United States.
"I try to use whatever tiny power I might have to communicate with these folks," said Bashman, who is also an appellate attorney and a columnist for The Legal Intelligencer.
Bashman admits that he doesn't "go through opinions looking for errors."
While the error was trivial and didn't alter the outcome of the case, Judge Smith's prompt response to Bashman's blog underscores that weblogs have ushered in a new era of digital accountability.
"I will chalk this up as an example of this blog's having achieved tangible results in the form of an even more perfect 5th Circuit opinion," Bashman wrote in his blog.
Other weblogs, like Boing Boing, linked to Bashman's blog, applaud the significance of the judge's action.
"There's a sense, a myth, that weblogging is entirely navel-gazing, inward-focusing activity," said Cory Doctorow, a freelance journalist and blogger for Boing Boing. "Every time there's a place that blogs interact with the real world, it makes people in blogging feel like they're not doing inward-focused, irrelevant activity.
"The idea that there's a federal judge reading weblogs so he can understand cases makes a lot of people feel like weblogs are not a niche phenomenon."
Bashman, for one, is basking in the attention his blog has received.
"I'm pleased that others think it's significant," Bashman said. "It does show a new method of feedback, and more feedback is better than less. This shows that this is a new way of communicating ... to judges and reporters who write in this area of the law."
Judge Smith declined to comment for this story.