United States Court of Appeals
For the First Circuit
No. 03-2324
GETTY PETROLEUM MARKETING, INC., and
GETTY PROPERTIES CORPORATION,
Plaintiffs, Appellees,
v.
CAPITAL TERMINAL COMPANY and
DUNELLEN, LLC,
Defendants, Appellants.
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF RHODE ISLAND
[Hon. Mary M. Lisi, U.S. District Judge]
Before
Lynch and Lipez, Circuit Judges,
and García-Gregory, District Judge.*
Gerald J. Petros, with whom Charles J. Blackman, Hinckley,
Allen & Snyder, LLP, and Duffy & Sweeney, Ltd were on brief, for
appellants.
James W. Ryan, with whom Robert K. Taylor and Partridge, Snow
& Hahn, LLP were on brief, for appellees.
December 10, 2004
_________________________
* Of the District of Puerto Rico, sitting by designation.
Per Curiam. This case requires us to determine whether
appellant Capital Terminal Company was entitled to reach a jury on
its claim that certain improvements to a fire suppression system
were required by "regulations" under the terms of its written
agreement with appellee Getty Properties Corporation. At the
conclusion of appellant's case, the district court granted
appellee's motion for judgment as a matter of law because, in the
court's view, appellant had failed to establish a basis for
instructing the jury on the content of such regulations, and hence
could not link the required improvements to those regulations. We
affirm.
I.
Appellant Capital Terminal Company (Capital) owns the
Wilkesbarre Pier (the Pier) in East Providence, Rhode Island. The
Pier is used primarily for offloading petroleum -- mostly gasoline
and home heating oil -- from barges and deep water vessels. Two
pipelines begin on the Pier and extend approximately 2.5 miles to
a pair of underground oil terminal facilities located in East
Providence.1 Capital owns one of the underground terminals;
appellee Getty Properties Corporation (Getty Properties) owns the
other and leases it to Getty Petroleum Marketing, Inc. (Getty
1
The parties dispute ownership of these pipelines. However,
the issue of ownership of the pipelines is not before this court on
appeal.
-2-
Marketing). Getty Properties also owns a usage interest in the
Pier.
An Operating Agreement executed in 1975 governs the
parties' relationship regarding costs associated with the Pier. In
1997, a dispute arose over the nature and extent of repairs to the
Pier. As a result of this dispute, the parties, including Getty
Properties and Capital's predecessor in interest, agreed to a First
Amendment to the Operating Agreement. That amendment provides that
Getty Properties is responsible for "[t]he cost of compliance with
all City, State, or Federal regulations applicable to the operation
of the pipelines." The term "regulations" is not defined in the
Operating Agreement or the First Amendment to the Operating
Agreement.2
Before 1992, the closest source of pressurized water to
the Pier was a hydrant located on neighboring property owned by the
Union Oil Company of California (Unocal). In the event of a fire,
water from the hydrant would have been used to spray fire-retardant
foam onto the pipelines. In 1992, the East Providence Water
Department shut off water to the hydrant because it was concerned
that chemicals from Unocal's operations might contaminate the water
supply. This action left the Pier without sufficient ability to
2
Hereinafter, we refer to the Operating Agreement and the
First Amendment to the Operating Agreement collectively as "the
Agreement."
-3-
suppress a fire on the pipelines. The parties that used the Pier
began to discuss this problem as early as 1994.
In 1997, the East Providence Fire Department contacted
Capital about the lack of a pressurized water supply on the Pier.
Beginning in 1998 and continuing until 2000, Capital attended a
series of meetings (the Advisory Group meetings) at the Coast
Guard's Marine Safety Office. At these meetings, representatives
of Capital, Unocal, the Coast Guard, the State Fire Marshal's
Office, and the East Providence Fire Department discussed how best
to provide adequate fire suppression services to the Pier. A
representative of Getty Marketing also attended several of the
Advisory Group meetings. The parties dispute whether the
representative of Getty Marketing also represented Getty
Properties.
On May 8, 2000, Capital wrote a letter to Gerald A.
Bessette, Chief of the East Providence Fire Department, setting out
a proposal for fire suppression at the Pier. It included four
specific measures: extension of an existing water main to the Pier,
purchase of a mobile Foam Tote Trailer that the Fire Department
could use to suppress a fire anywhere in the city, installation of
a radio signal alarm box at the Pier, and purchase of a portable
chemical fire extinguisher to be housed at the Pier. The letter
stated that "[t]he estimated total cost for the four . . .
improvements is approximately $200,000." It appears that Capital
-4-
anticipated paying for these improvements, as the letter stated
that "[t]his amount is a major expenditure for [Capital], and
represents a hardship, above which we cannot extend ourselves."
On May 12, 2000, the Advisory Group, including
representatives of both Capital and Getty Marketing, as well as
Chief Bessette, discussed Capital's proposal. The minutes from the
meeting state that "[a]ll of the key players agreed to the
following proposal (summarized) . . . submitted by Capital." The
proposal listed in the minutes included all four measures outlined
in Capital's May 8, 2000, letter, plus the additional measure of
installing a pipeline from the head of the Pier to a separate
manifold area of the Pier.
On May 17, 2000, Chief Bessette sent a letter to Capital,
Getty Marketing, and Getty Properties, stating that "[a]s a result
of a number of [Advisory Group] meetings . . . in regard to a lack
of adequate fire protection at the Wilkesbarre Pier, the following
are minimal acceptable improvements to that facility." The letter
then listed the five improvements that the Advisory Group had
agreed upon during its May 12, 2000, meeting. Shortly thereafter,
Capital demanded that Getty Properties pay for the cost of
implementing the improvements listed in Chief Bessette's letter,
contending that those improvements were required by "regulations"
under the terms of the Agreement between the parties.
-5-
II.
On August 2, 2000, Getty Properties and Getty Marketing
sought a declaratory judgment from the district court that they
were "not obligated to install a water line or fire suppression
system for the pier." On September 8, 2000, Capital filed a
compulsory counterclaim seeking $300,000 to cover the costs of the
fire suppression system that it had already begun to install. The
district court divided the trial into two phases. In phase one,
the court tried Capital's counterclaim before a jury.3 In phase
two, tried at a later time, the court conducted a bench trial to
address Getty Properties's and Getty Marketing's declaratory
judgment action.4
During the jury trial, Capital introduced into evidence
the historical documents governing interests in the Pier, including
the Agreement between Capital and Getty Properties obligating Getty
Properties to pay "[t]he cost of compliance with all City, State,
or Federal regulations applicable to the operation of the
pipelines." Capital also introduced a report written by Orville
Slye, a consultant hired by Capital to assess the fire suppression
needs on the Pier. That report had been presented to the Advisory
3
Phase one also included Getty Marketing's claim that Capital
had breached a separate agreement -- the "Throughput Agreement" --
by failing to make certain repairs to the Pier. That claim is not
before us on appeal.
4
Phase two also included other claims by Getty Properties and
Getty Marketing that are not relevant to the issues on appeal.
-6-
Group and had been used by Capital in developing its proposal for
fire suppression on the Pier. Capital also introduced the minutes
of the Advisory Group meetings.
At the close of Capital's case, Getty moved for judgment
as a matter of law pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a)(1). Getty
argued that "[t]here has been absolutely no testimony here
regarding any particular regulation or any rule of law that Getty
Properties did not comply with." This statement somewhat misstates
the issue that was before the court. The issue was not whether
Getty Properties had failed to comply with any regulation or rule
of law. Rather, the issue was whether the improvements listed in
Chief Bessette's letter were required in order to comply with
"regulations" as that term was used in the Agreement, and therefore
whether Getty Properties was responsible for paying the cost of
installing those improvements.
In response to this motion, the court pressed Capital to
"point [the court] to the regulation which requires the
installation of the fire suppression system that you seek
compensation for." Capital directed the court to R.I. Gen. Laws §
23-28.22-5,5 which with an exception not relevant here, states:
5
In June 2004, Rhode Island repealed R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-
28.22-5 and other portions of Chapter 23 as part of an overhaul of
its fire safety laws. See 2004 R.I. Pub. Laws 225. However, to
properly address whether the improvements listed in Chief
Bessette's letter of May 17, 2000, were "regulations," we refer to
Rhode Island law as it existed at the time of that letter, that is,
the provisions in effect in 2000.
-7-
"The construction, installation, use, storage, and maintenance of
facilities storing, using, and dispensing flammable and combustible
liquids within the scope of this chapter shall be in accordance
with N.F.P.A. Standard 30, 1987 edition." Capital asserted that
the 1987 edition of the National Fire Protection Association
Standard 30 (NFPA 30), a "Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code"
developed by a nongovernmental entity, was incorporated into Rhode
Island law pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-28.22-5, and thus
constituted a "regulation" for the purposes of the Agreement.6
The court asked Capital where the regulation was and
Capital responded, "I can get a copy, I suppose." When asked
whether it was introduced into evidence, Capital responded, "It's
a matter of law, your Honor." The court continued to push Capital,
stating, "Show me the Rhode Island Building Code which you say has
force of law," to which Capital responded, "I don't have the
6
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-28.22-1 governs the applicability of R.I.
Gen. Laws § 23-28.22-5. It provides that the provisions of Chapter
28.22 ("Flammable and Combustible Liquids") "shall not apply to
existing buildings, plants, structures, or equipment now used for
flammable liquids unless the enforcing officer shall determine that
the conditions constitute a distinct hazard." R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-
28.22-1(b). The record indicates that the pipelines in this case
qualify as "existing buildings, plants, structures, or equipment."
However, the district court found that, "[g]iving [Chief Bessette's
letter] the most generous reading that I can and drawing all
reasonable inferences in favor of Capital Terminal," Chief Bessette
had determined that the lack of a fire suppression system on the
pier was a distinct hazard. The district court therefore
determined that "the flammable and combustible liquids chapter of
the Rhode Island General Laws does apply."
-8-
building code." The court articulated its belief that the Standard
should be part of Capital's papers in the case.
The court then asked for the citation. Capital
responded, "It is NFPA 30 and the Rhode Island Building Code, your
Honor, and I will find it and bring it to you, I promise, or at
least I should say I will find it and try to bring it to you." The
court stated that the violation of a regulation was the "bedrock of
[Capital's] claim against Getty" and that it was Capital's
"obligation as the party pressing the claim not only to set forth
the facts that support [the] claim but to set forth the law." The
court observed that Capital had not cited a specific provision of
NFPA 30 that required the introduction of the fire suppression
equipment, let alone given the court a copy of NFPA 30:
[Y]ou rested, but you have not directed me to
any specific regulation. . . . But I'm asking
you to give me a copy of the regulation that
you say supports your argument on this point.
Because if it's not there . . . you will lose
on this claim. It's as simple as that.
Noting that it had looked unsuccessfully for NFPA 30, the court
took a short recess to give Capital time to obtain a copy.
After a recess, the court asked counsel for Capital
whether he was "able in the recess to identify a specific statute,
ordinance, regulation, anything that specifically covers the fire
suppression system that we've been talking about[.]" Capital
simply offered R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-28.22-5; counsel admitted that
-9-
he had a 2000 edition of NFPA 30 but not the 1987 edition. The
court stated:
The problem I have is this. This statute
makes reference to a document. It is not
incorporated, that is, the text of the
document is not incorporated into the statute.
There is nothing before this jury from which
it can make a determination that Getty had an
obligation to comply with certain provisions.
The court noted that Slye, Capital's expert, never stated what was
required by NFPA 30; in fact, he stated that his own
recommendations exceeded NFPA 30's requirements. The court
continued to press Capital:
Where is there anything in the record other
than the reference to this standard or set of
standards that addresses the precise issue in
this case. . . . All you have is the
reference.
The court then commented ominously on the significance of
NFPA 30's absence from the case: "Nobody knows what it says at this
point, but most importantly the jury and I do not know what it
says." Capital responded that the court was confusing issues of
law with issues of fact:
It's not a question of fact, your Honor. This
is a question of law . . . . [Y]our Honor
wouldn't give [the jury] the statute. Your
Honor would, I suspect, charge as to what the
law is. If your Honor believes that NFPA 30
is now the building code law of the State of
Rhode Island, I would expect you to charge
that. I believe that if I had tried to offer
either the General Laws or [NFPA 30] in
evidence, that an objection would have been
made and sustained. It's a matter of law.
-10-
The court was not convinced by Capital's argument, noting, "I'm not
so sure . . . . But I think you've got a hole in your case."
Capital continued:
The point of the matter is that this is now a
matter of law. We will submit a memorandum at
the earliest possible time, and it will be
quickly, to show you what NFPA 30 is and that
it is the law and ask you to charge the jury
accordingly.
The court reminded Capital, "I need the '87 version," and asked,
"Who's got it?" Although counsel offered to get a copy of the 1987
edition of NFPA 30, the court said it was "too late" and admonished
that "[i]f this is what your client is hanging its hat on, this is
something that should have been provided to the Court a long time
ago, not now."
The district court granted Getty Properties's motion for
judgment as a matter of law.7 In reaching its conclusion, the
court probed the nature of NFPA 30. The court noted that NFPA
standards were promulgated by the National Fire Protection
Association, which is a private industry board. From an
evidentiary standpoint, the court believed that because the private
standard was not incorporated into the text of the state statute,
but rather was simply referenced, Capital was required to introduce
NFPA 30 into evidence. The court believed that the problem with
7
The jury trial continued on Getty Marketing's claim that
Capital had breached the "Throughput Agreement." On December 19,
2002, the jury found in favor of Getty Marketing and awarded
damages of $100,000.
-11-
Capital's case was that, "even taking all of the [evidence
introduced at trial] into account, there is absolutely not one
shred of evidence in the case linking the [recommendations of Chief
Bessette] to the 1987 edition of NFPA 30."
In its written order of December 20, 2002, the court
further explained its decision, stating the "dispositive issue" was
"whether there was any evidence that the items listed in Chief
Bessette's letter were in accordance with the standards set forth
in NFPA 30, 1987 edition." The court noted that "[t]he NFPA 30,
1987 edition manual was never offered as an exhibit, and is not
part of the evidence in this case." It further stated that "the
only testimony concerning what was or was not required on the Pier
in the way of fire protection equipment came from Orville Slye,
Jr." The court added that the recommendations in Slye's report, by
the report's own terms, exceeded "minimal, non-mandatory, fire
protection recommended by NFPA 30." The district court concluded
that "[n]owhere does the Slye Report indicate that the
recommendations contained therein are in accordance with the NFPA
30, 1987 edition. Moreover, the report does not state that
recommended Pier improvements are required by statute, ordinance,
or any regulation whatsoever."
In the absence of evidence linking the improvements
listed in Chief Bessette's letter to the requirements of NFPA 30,
the court determined that no reasonable jury could find that those
-12-
improvements were required by "regulations." The court stated that
"[n]owhere in Chief Bessette's letter does he reference a Rhode
Island state statute, city ordinance, or other regulation requiring
installation of the listed items, nor does he mention the NFPA 30,
1987 edition or state that the items listed are in accordance with
NFPA standards." The court concluded that "the failure to make an
evidentiary link between items listed in Chief Bessette's letter
with a corresponding regulation is fatal to plaintiff's claim."8
8
On June 23, 2003, the court proceeded to phase two of the
trial. At the conclusion of phase two, it ruled that Getty
Properties had failed to prove that it was not obligated to install
a fire suppression system on the Pier. Capital contends that the
district court's grant of Getty Properties's Rule 50 motion in
phase one of the trial is inconsistent with its ruling against
Getty Properties in phase two of the trial. There is no necessary
inconsistency in these two rulings. The Rule 50 motion argued only
that Capital had not introduced sufficient evidence to demonstrate
that the improvements listed in Chief Bessette's letter were
required by "regulations." That ruling, however, did not require
the district court to hold, in phase two of the trial, that Getty
Properties had met its burden to demonstrate that it was not
obligated to install a fire suppression system on the Pier. In its
phase two decision, the court explained that its ruling in phase
one of the trial (addressing Capital's counterclaim) had not
decided Getty's declaratory judgment claim on the merits:
As the party seeking the declaratory judgment,
Getty [Properties] had an obligation to come
forward with evidence that established, for
instance, that the installation of the fire
suppression equipment on the Wilkesbarre Pier
is not required by city, state, or federal
regulation, or, in other words, that it has no
obligation to install such equipment on the
Pier. In this, it failed.
-13-
On appeal, Capital argues that a reasonable jury could
have found that the improvements listed in Chief Bessette's letter
were required by "regulations." Capital's primary arguments are
that (1) the court should have taken judicial notice of the
contents of NFPA 30 because NFPA 30 is part of Rhode Island law and
thus the judge was responsible for instructing the jury as to its
requirements, and (2) the evidence at trial indicated that the
improvements in Chief Bessette's letter were required by the
regulatory authority of the City of East Providence, the State Fire
Marshal, and the Coast Guard.9
9
Capital also argues that it was "ambushed" by Getty
Properties's Rule 50(a) motion because Getty Properties had
admitted in its pleadings that the improvements listed in Chief
Bessette's letter were "required." In its Second Amended
Complaint, Getty Properties states:
Through its Fire Chief, the City of East
Providence has indicated that there is
inadequate fire protection on the Pier and has
set forth certain minimum requirements for
necessary improvements to the Pier or else the
Pier will be closed.
Capital over reads the statement, which does not admit that the
improvements listed in Chief Bessette's letter were required by
"regulations." The statement just acknowledges the obvious fact
that the Chief required the improvements. Moreover, Capital did
not raise this "ambush" argument before the district court until
phase two of the trial, well after the court had ruled on Getty
Properties's Rule 50 motion. Therefore, even if the "ambush"
argument had any validity, it has been forfeited. See, e.g.,
Violette v. Smith & Nephew Dyonics, Inc., 62 F.3d 8, 10 (1st Cir.
1995).
-14-
III.
"We review the grant of a motion for judgment as a matter
of law de novo." McLane, Graf, Raulerson & Middleton, P.A. v.
Rechberger, 280 F.3d 26, 39 (1st Cir. 2002). In ruling on Getty
Properties's Rule 50(a) motion, the district court held that the
jury could not decide whether "Getty [Properties] had an obligation
to comply with certain provisions" of NFPA without a copy of NFPA
30 being presented.
The contract language at issue provides that Getty
Properties is responsible for "[t]he cost of compliance with all
City, State, or Federal regulations applicable to the operation of
the pipelines." Although the word "regulations" is not defined in
the contract, the word unmistakably means that Getty Properties is
only responsible for the cost of improvements required by city,
state, or federal law.10
We deal quickly with Capital's second argument that
independent of NFPA 30, the evidence introduced at trial permitted
a jury to find the improvements were required by city, state, or
federal regulations, and thus Getty was liable for the cost of the
improvements to the Pier. That is simply not so. Even Capital's
expert did not testify to that effect, but rather said the plan
10
The district court opinion confirms that "[t]he parties do
not dispute that the term 'regulation', which is not defined in the
Operating Agreement, refers to a rule or order having the force of
law."
-15-
exceeded the NFPA recommendations. Indeed, Capital's main
argument, then and now, turns on the assertion that the Rhode
Island statute which references NFPA 30 requires the improvements
made to the Pier and is the regulation which, under the Agreement,
makes Getty responsible.
We now turn to this argument. Capital contends that the
court should have determined the requirements of Rhode Island law
pursuant to its responsibility to determine the law applicable to
the case, and then instructed the jury on those requirements.
Since Rhode Island law provides that "facilities storing, using,
and dispensing flammable and combustible liquids within the scope
of this chapter shall be in accordance with N.F.P.A. Standard 30,
1987 edition," R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-28.22-5 (emphasis added),
Capital argues, NFPA 30 is part of the law of Rhode Island and
hence, as argued in its brief, "[i]t was never [Capital's]
obligation to prove what the law is." Capital maintains the court
was obligated to take judicial notice of the law, in this case,
NFPA 30. Although counsel did not use the words "judicial notice"
in his argument before the district court, we will take it, in his
favor, that the court understood his request in those terms.
We disagree, however, that the court was required to take
judicial notice of NFPA 30. After Getty moved for judgment as a
matter of law pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a)(1), the court asked
Capital for a copy of NFPA 30, referenced in Rhode Island General
-16-
Laws § 23-28.22-5. The court indicated that it had looked for a
copy and was unable to locate one. After a brief recess, Capital
still could not provide the court with a copy; Capital simply
pointed to the Rhode Island statute that referenced the standard.
On appeal, Capital's argument is that the court was required to
take judicial notice of NFPA 30, regardless.
Generally, in the federal system, "[t]he law of any state
of the Union, whether depending upon statutes or upon judicial
opinions, is a matter of which the courts of the United States are
bound to take judicial notice without plea or proof." Lamar v.
Micou, 114 U.S. 218, 223 (1885); White v. Gittens, 121 F.3d 803,
805 n.1 (1st Cir. 1997). Municipal ordinances and private codes
referred to in statutes historically have not been included within
this general rule of judicial notice of law. Under traditional
rules, even a municipal ordinance must be put into evidence. See
Gardner v. Capital Transit Co., 152 F.2d 288, 290 (D.C. Cir.
1945)(affirming trial court's refusal to take judicial notice of or
instruct the jury regarding a District of Columbia ordinance that
appellant had not proven, because "municipal ordinances may not be
judicially noticed by courts of general jurisdiction"); Robinson v.
Denver City Tramway Co., 164 F. 174 (8th Cir. 1908)("[T]o make [an
ordinance] available in establishing a charge of negligence, it
must be pleaded, like any other fact of which judicial notice will
not be taken."); Town of Lincoln v. Cournoyer, 186 A.2d 728, 730
-17-
(R.I. 1962) ("It is generally held that the doctrine of judicial
notice will not be extended to the enactment of specific municipal
ordinances or to the specific provisions of such municipal
ordinances."); 2 John Strong, McCormick on Evidence § 335 (5th ed.
1999)("Private laws and municipal ordinances . . . are not commonly
included within the doctrine of judicial notice of law and these
must be pleaded and proved."); 9 Wigmore, Evidence, § 2572
(Chadbourn rev. 1981) ("[O]rdinances and regulations of local
government boards and councils are usually not noticed.").
We do not know if the court would have taken judicial
notice of NFPA 30, if Capital had provided the district court with
an appropriately certified copy of the 1987 version of it. But
Capital chose not to do so (and apparently did not itself have the
correct version of the Standard). Nor was NFPA 30 readily
available.
Indeed the court informed Capital that it had tried to
find the correct version and had been unsuccessful. Even those
courts which have more liberally construed the rules of judicial
notice as to local ordinances and codes do so only when the law to
be noticed is readily available and there are no issues about
accuracy or authenticity. See Melton v. Oklahoma City, 879 F.2d
706, 724 n.25 (10th Cir. 1989)(taking judicial notice of matters
when they are not subject to reasonable dispute and the accuracy
cannot be questioned); Newcomb v. Brennan, 558 F.2d 825, 829 (7th
-18-
Cir. 1977) (noting that city ordinances can be judicially noticed
because they fall within the category of "common knowledge"). That
is the opposite of this situation.11
The court's conclusion that Capital's case failed for
lack of an essential element of the case was correct, and the court
properly entered judgment as a matter of law for Getty, pursuant to
Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a)(1). Accordingly, we affirm the decision of
the district court. Costs are awarded to Getty.
(Concurrence follows.)
11
At least one member of the majority has reservations about
the analysis set forth in the concurring opinion.
-19-
LIPEZ, Circuit Judge, concurring. Although I concur in
the per curiam opinion of my colleagues affirming the decision of
the district court, I write separately to discuss the doctrine of
judicial notice of law generally, some important changes taking
place in the application of that doctrine to municipal ordinances
and mandatory safety codes, and the relevance of those changes to
the judicial notice request made by Capital in this case.
Recognizing that this discussion is not precedent, I nevertheless
hope that the discussion will inform the judicial notice of law
analysis when comparable judicial notice of law issues arise in
future cases.
I.
A. Judicial Notice Generally
To assess Capital's contention that the district court
was required to take judicial notice of NFPA 30, I first
distinguish two concepts lumped together under the rubric of
judicial notice: judicial notice of fact and judicial notice of
law. Judicial notice of fact is an evidentiary shortcut. It
permits facts in a particular case to be established without proof
by admissible evidence if they are "not subject to reasonable
dispute" by virtue of being "either (1) generally known within the
territorial jurisdiction of the trial court or (2) capable of
accurate and ready determination by resort to sources whose
-20-
accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned." Fed. R. Evid. 201(b).12
For example, if it is necessary to establish that an offense took
place within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of
the United States, the court may take judicial notice that the site
of the offense was, in fact, federal property. See United States
v. Bello, 194 F.3d 18, 26 (1st Cir. 1999) (trial court did not err
in taking judicial notice that a certain prison was within
exclusive federal jurisdiction).
Judicial notice of law is the name given to the
commonsense doctrine that the rules of evidence governing
admissibility and proof of documents generally do not make sense to
apply to statutes or judicial opinions -- which are technically
documents -- because they are presented to the court as law, not to
the jury as evidence. See John W. Strong, McCormick on Evidence
§ 335 (5th ed. 1999) ("The heavy-footed common law system of proof
12
The discussion above applies to judicial notice of
"adjudicative" facts, not judicial notice of "legislative" facts.
This distinction is not material in this case, but I summarize it
briefly for purposes of completeness. "Adjudicative" facts, which
are governed by Fed. R. Evid. 201, are "simply the facts of the
particular case." Fed. R. Evid. 201(a) advisory committee's note.
"Legislative facts," by contrast, include facts "which have
relevance to legal reasoning and the lawmaking process, whether in
the formulation of a legal principle or ruling by a judge or court
or in the enactment of a legislative body." Id. For example, in
Muller v. Oregon, 208 U.S. 412, 419-21 & n.1 (1908), the Supreme
Court took judicial notice of extensive sociological research that
supported shorter working hours for women in evaluating the
rationality of statutes mandating such hours. Judicial notice of
legislative facts is not governed by Rule 201. Fed. R. Evid.
201(a); Fed. R. Evid. 201(a) advisory committee's note.
-21-
by witnesses and authenticated documents is too slow and cumbrous
for the judge's task of finding what the applicable law is."). In
the federal system, "[t]he law of any state of the Union, whether
depending upon statutes or upon judicial opinions, is a matter of
which the courts of the United States are bound to take judicial
notice, without plea or proof." Lamar v. Micou, 114 U.S. 218, 223
(1885); White v. Gittens, 121 F.3d 803, 805 n.1 (1st Cir. 1997).13
Although judicial notice of fact and judicial notice of
law share the phrase "judicial notice," they draw on different
rules of practice. Rule 201 "governs only judicial notice of
adjudicative facts." Fed. R. Evid. 201(a). Judicial notice of law
is outside the scope of Rule 201, and derives from practical
considerations and case law that do not rely on Rule 201 or
principles of evidence.14
13
Within the federal court system, the doctrine of judicial
notice of state court decisions also contains an element of
federal-state comity, and federal courts occasionally distinguish
their obligations from those of state courts, which in some cases
require proof of sister state statutes or judicial decisions. See,
e.g., In re Paramount Publix Corp., 85 F.2d 83, 86 (2d Cir. 1936).
14
A footnote in White suggests in dictum that judicial notice
of law emanates from Rule 201(b). See 121 F.3d at 805 n.1.
However, this is not correct. The Advisory Committee specifically
disclaimed any intent to address judicial notice of law because
"the manner in which law is fed into the judicial process is never
a proper concern of the rules of evidence but rather of the rules
of procedure," and instead "suggest[ed] that those matters of law
which . . . have traditionally been treated as requiring pleading
and proof and more recently as the subject of judicial notice be
left to the Rules of Civil and Criminal Procedure." Fed. R. Evid.
201 advisory committee's note. Rule 201, as it says in its very
first sentence, "governs only judicial notice of adjudicative
-22-
Although this typology is easy enough to outline, nuances
arise at the margins, and "[t]he exact parameters of judicial
notice of state laws and regulations are rarely tested." In re
Madeline Marie Nursing Homes, 694 F.2d 433, 446 (6th Cir. 1982).
For instance, while a federal court must take judicial notice of
state statutes "without plea or proof," Lamar, 114 U.S. at 223,
courts traditionally were not required to take notice of local
ordinances. Yet that tradition is eroding. A brief history of
this exception to the general principle of judicial notice of law
will clarify the issue presented in this case.
B. The Common Law Rule of Proof of Local Ordinances
By longstanding tradition, a local ordinance was
considered to be "not a public statute, but a mere municipal
regulation; and, to make it available . . . it must be pleaded,
like any other fact of which judicial notice will not be taken."
Robinson v. Denver City Tramway Co., 164 F. 174, 176 (8th Cir.
1908); Gardner v. Capital Transit Co., 152 F.2d 288, 290 (D.C.
Cir. 1945) (affirming trial court's refusal to take judicial notice
of or instruct jury regarding District of Columbia ordinance that
appellant had not proven, because "municipal ordinances may not be
facts," and certainly not judicial notice of law. Indeed, one
organization has proposed a new Rule 203 to govern judicial notice
of law, which would hardly be necessary if the topic fell under the
heading of Rule 201. See Paul R. Rice, The Evidence Project:
Proposed Revisions to the Federal Rules of Evidence with Supporting
Commentary, 171 F.R.D. 330, 405 (1997).
-23-
judicially noticed by courts of general jurisdiction"); Broughton
v. Brewer, 298 F. Supp. 260, 265-66 (S.D. Ala. 1969) (refusing to
take judicial notice of ordinances and granting partial judgment
for defendants because plaintiffs had failed to plead or introduce
into evidence official or certified copies of ordinances);
McCormick on Evidence § 335 & n.10; ante at 17-18.
This distinction in the treatment of state statutes and
local ordinances was based on the historic reality that it was much
easier for a court to obtain (and be confident that it had the
correct version of) a state statute than a local ordinance. See
Roden v. Conn. Co., 155 A. 721, 723 (Conn. 1931) ("The means to
ascertain . . . what ordinances of a city are in effect at any
particular time, without change or amendment, are certainly not
reasonably available to the courts, and frequently they are not
capable of ready and unquestionable demonstration.").15 "[W]hen the
15
I cite state law cases only to illustrate trends in historic
practice and the logic behind them. Judicial notice is purely
procedural and hence is governed by federal law. "A federal court
sitting in diversity jurisdiction is obliged to apply federal
procedural law and state substantive law." Alternative Sys.
Concepts, Inc. v. Synopsys, Inc., 374 F.3d 23, 32 (1st Cir. 2004);
Hanna v. Plumer, 380 U.S. 460, 465 (1965); Erie R.R. v. Tompkins,
304 U.S. 64, 78 (1938). Indeed, if judicial notice in federal
court were subject to state law, then Lamar would be superfluous
where state law provided for judicial notice of state statutes, and
violate Erie where state law did not so provide.
Consequently, I do not believe that the Rhode Island rule
against taking judicial notice of a municipal ordinance, see Town
of Lincoln v. Cournoyer, 186 A.2d 728, 730 (R.I. 1962), would apply
in federal court even if this case involved a municipal ordinance
instead of a document incorporated by reference into a state
statute. Contra H. Wayne Palmer & Assocs. v. Heldor Indus., 839 F.
-24-
source-material was not easily accessible to the judge, as in the
case of . . . city ordinances, law [was historically] treated as a
peculiar species of fact, requiring formal proof." McCormick on
Evidence § 335 (emphasis added). Indeed, Professor McCormick
acknowledged the possibility that local ordinances might in some
cases be "easily accessible to the judge," and anticipated that
"[t]o the extent that these items become readily available in
compilations, it may be expected that they will become subject to
judicial notice." Id. Failing that, however, he suggested that
"it would appear appropriate for judges to take judicial notice of
. . . municipal ordinances if counsel furnish a certified copy
thereof." Id.16
In other words, the rationale for excluding local
ordinances from the Lamar principle (by which federal courts must
Supp. 770, 775 (D. Kan. 1993) (stating that judicial notice would
be governed by Kansas judicial notice procedure); Monk v. City of
Birmingham, 87 F. Supp. 538, 539 (N.D. Ala. 1949) (taking judicial
notice of city ordinance, relying, without discussion, on Alabama
statute that directed state courts to do so), aff'd, 185 F.2d 859
(5th Cir. 1950).
16
The Evidence Project's proposed Rule 203 goes a step further
by eliminating the requirement of a certified or official copy:
"The court shall take judicial notice of ordinances . . . and
similar sources of law of political subdivisions of the States or
Territories of the United States if requested by a party and
supplied with the necessary material." Proposed Fed. R. Evid.
203(b)(3), in The Evidence Project, 171 F.R.D. at 406 (emphasis
added). Proposed Rule 203(b)(3) also allows the court to take
judicial notice of such ordinances, even without submission by
counsel, if the materials are "reasonably available to the court."
Id.
-25-
take judicial notice of state statutes) is derived entirely from
the practical difficulty of obtaining authentic and accurate copies
of those ordinances. If the proponent of an ordinance cures that
difficulty by providing a certified copy of the actual ordinance,
the court should, in my view, take judicial notice of it. The
fundamental concern underlying citation of local law to a federal
court is whether the document offered by the proponent accurately
states the law. If there is no doubt that a document accurately
states the law, there is no reason to eschew judicial notice of
that law.17
C. Basic Principles of Judicial Notice of Law
Professor McCormick's pragmatic analysis sets forth the
basis for applying the judicial notice of law doctrine to other
contexts beyond local ordinances. Without acknowledging it (and
perhaps without even thinking about it) courts take judicial notice
17
I have carefully framed the issue of judicial notice of law
in terms of both "accuracy" and "authenticity" because a focus on
authenticity alone could be misleading. Authenticity simply means
that the document is what its proponent says it is. See generally
Fed. R. Evid. 901-02. If the legal material submitted is in fact
a copy of the ordinance as actually issued by the municipal
authority, authenticity is probably the only issue. If, however,
the document submitted is excerpted from a web page, a legal
research service, or some other non-official source, the question
of authenticity -- whether the document submitted is what it
purports to be -- is eclipsed by the more important question of
whether the document submitted accurately relates the law as set
forth by the enacting authority. In other words, such secondary
materials introduce a hearsay problem; evidence that a page of
regulations included in a brief was, in fact, printed from a
certain web site is probably not helpful in determining whether the
web site accurately stated the law.
-26-
of law every time they cite a statute or judicial decision. See 29
Am. Jur. 2d Evidence § 136 ("A court takes judicial notice of a
litigation document as a source of law when it follows a decision
of [a] superior court, cites a court decision as precedent, or
relies upon it as persuasive authority."). As a practical matter,
in most cases, this law-gathering process flows smoothly without
invoking the machinery of judicial notice because there is usually
no doubt about what the law actually says.18 Theoretically,
however, questions of authenticity and accuracy lurk below the
surface whenever a court refers to a document to establish the law
-- even when that document is the Federal Reporter or the United
States Code. After all, the publishers or codifiers might have
released an incorrect version of the underlying judicial decision
or Congressional enactment. In reality, however, authenticity and
accuracy are never doubted when these widely-available, well-
respected services are cited. In the language of Rule 201 (which
provides a useful reference point even though it does not apply to
judicial notice of law), the accuracy of these sources "cannot
reasonably be questioned." The situation may differ, however, when
the district court is presented with a document purporting to
represent an ordinance of a small New England town. Authenticity
and accuracy -- which are almost never at issue with federal or
state statutes -- can sometimes present real concerns with local
18
What the law means, of course, is often disputed.
-27-
ordinances. "[S]tate statutes are compiled, published and
distributed by recognized professional entities who must vouch for
the integrity of their product and thus they are likely accurate,
readily ascertainable and available while such is often not the
case with ordinances." Keyes v. Amundson, 391 N.W.2d 602, 608
(N.D. 1986).19
The pragmatic underpinnings of the judicial notice of law
doctrine provide the appropriate guides for analysis of the
19
Authenticity and accuracy can also sometimes present real
concerns with state administrative regulations. Federal courts and
most state courts take judicial notice of such regulations. See,
e.g., Roemer v. Bd. of Pub. Works, 426 U.S. 736, 742 n.4 (1976)
(taking judicial notice of state regulation); Nat'l Agric. Chems.
Ass'n v. Rominger, 500 F. Supp. 465, 472 (E.D. Cal. 1980) (same,
though incorrectly suggesting that Rule 201 might be involved); see
also Norman J. Singer, 2 Sutherland on Statutory Construction §
39:4 n.1 (6th ed. 2000) (collecting state cases); 29 Am. Jur. 2d
Evidence § 122 n.98 (2003) (same). Some of the state courts that
decline to take judicial notice of their own state's administrative
regulations have cited the same practical considerations of
accessibility that grounded the traditional refusal to judicially
notice ordinances. See, e.g., Dairyland Power Coop. v. State Bd.
of Equalization & Assessment, 472 N.W.2d 363, 368 (Neb. 1991)
("[B]ecause establishing the existence and contents of a particular
administrative rule or regulation at any given time is often a
difficult and uncertain process, it is an established principle
that, as a general rule, this court will not take judicial notice
of such rules or regulations.") (internal quotation marks omitted);
see also Madeline Marie Nursing Homes, 694 F.2d at 446 (noting that
Ohio administrative regulations were not published until 1976, and
consequently there was "no readily available source from which
[the] court [could] independently ascertain the exact status of the
Ohio regulations in effect in 1976 and earlier"); McCormick on
Evidence § 335 ("State and national administrative regulations
having the force of law will also be noticed, at least if they are
published so as to be readily available.") (emphasis added).
Federal regulations, by contrast, must be judicially noticed under
the Federal Register Act. See 44 U.S.C. § 1507.
-28-
district court's handling of NFPA 30, the fire code relied on by
Capital. Chief among those underpinnings are convenience and
practicality. A court cannot take notice of a code that it cannot
find, even if that code is incorporated by reference into a state
statute. At the same time, rules of thumb that distinguish, for
example, a "mere municipal regulation" from a somehow more worthy
state statute, Robinson, 164 F. at 176, should not be fetishized if
the municipal materials are made available by commonly used legal
research services or by a party. Rather, the doctrine of judicial
notice of law must be applied with a focus on the availability of
the materials at issue. Where documents that establish the
relevant law are readily available by ordinary legal research from
a citation provided by a party, or copies of the relevant documents
are actually submitted, the court would be authorized, in my view,
and in most cases required, to take judicial notice of that law,
whether it is found in statutes, regulations, executive orders,
ordinances, so-called "private" laws, charters, privately developed
standards adopted into law, or comparable documents. By contrast,
where documents are neither readily available -- as is still often
the case with such materials -- nor actually submitted, a court
need not take judicial notice of something that it cannot obtain.20
20
This approach parallels, in some important respects, the
process that federal courts use to determine foreign law. "In
general, foreign law is treated as a fact that must be proven by
the parties." Abdille v. Ashcroft, 242 F.3d 477, 489 n.10 (3d Cir.
2001). However, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provide a
-29-
D. Judicial Notice of Safety Codes
The principles set forth above are instructive in
analyzing the theory and practice underlying the choice between
proof or judicial notice of building, fire, and electric codes.
These codes often present the same ease-of-access issues as
municipal ordinances. But they also a introduce a new variable:
whether the safety code is simply a voluntary industry standard, or
legally binding state or local law.
1. Voluntary Industry Standards
Many cases involve voluntary industry standards that do
not have the force of law in the relevant jurisdiction. The
overwhelming majority of such cases are negligence actions where
the industry standard is offered as evidence of the appropriate
standard of care. See, e.g., Miller v. Yazoo Mfg. Co., 26 F.3d 81,
83 (8th Cir. 1994) (in personal injury action, American National
Standards Institute lawnmower safety standards were offered to
establish standard of care); Matthews v. Ashland Chem., Inc., 770
F.2d 1303, 1310-11 (5th Cir. 1985) (in personal injury action,
NFPA, National Electric Code, and the American National Standard
Specifications for Accident Prevention Signs were offered to
more flexible approach that, in some instances, allows the court to
determine foreign law without extensive and cumbersome factfinding
procedures. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 44.1. The Advisory Committee
explained that, while the court "may engage in its own research and
consider any relevant material thus found," it is also "free to
insist on a complete presentation by counsel." Fed. R. Civ. P.
44.1 advisory committee's note.
-30-
establish standard of care); Boston & Me. R.R. v. Talbert, 360 F.2d
286, 290 (1st Cir. 1966) ("certain nationally recognized standards
concerning the design of highway and railroad crossings" were
offered to establish standard of care, with trial judge's warning
that they were "not completely authoritative"); Dickie v. Shockman,
No. A3-98-137, 2000 WL 33339623, *3 (D.N.D. July 17, 2000) (in
personal injury action, NFPA standards "and other codes applicable
within the propane industry" were offered to establish standard of
care).
These voluntary standards do not irrefutably establish
the standard of care in a negligence case. Rather, they constitute
"one more piece of evidence upon which the jury could decide
whether the defendant acted as a reasonably prudent person in the
circumstances of th[e] case." Boston & Me. R.R., 360 F.2d at 290.
The defendant is free to argue that the standard is unduly
demanding, either in general or in the particular instance, and
that it does not reflect industry practice or the standard that a
reasonably prudent person would employ. After all, voluntary
standards are not law; in essence, they are simply recommendations
written by experts who may not themselves be available for cross-
examination. In short, the merits of the standard are "for the
jury's consideration like any other evidence in the case." Id.
Consequently, courts have generally treated such
standards as factual evidence that the court may admit or exclude
-31-
based on ordinary evidentiary principles. See, e.g., Miller, 26
F.3d at 83-84 (voluntary standard was properly admitted); Matthews,
770 F.2d at 1310-11 (voluntary standards were properly excluded);
Boston & Me. R.R., 360 F.2d at 290 (voluntary standards were
properly admitted); Dickie, 2000 WL 33339623, at *3 (admitting
expert testimony regarding voluntary standards). I believe that
this practice is sound.
2. Legally Binding Safety Codes
By contrast, many safety codes are enacted as municipal
ordinances or state administrative regulations, and consequently
have the force of law. See, e.g., Burran v. Dambold, 422 F.2d 133,
135 (10th Cir. 1970) (New Mexico contractors' license board was
"statutorily empowered to adopt a building code having the force of
law and has done so"); Curtis v. District of Columbia, 363 F.2d
973, 974-76 (D.C. Cir. 1966) (District of Columbia Building Code
was enacted by District's Commissioners); Am. States Ins. Co. v.
Hannan Constr. Co., 283 F. Supp. 988, 996 (N.D. Ohio 1966) ("fire
protection provisions of the Ohio Building Code [were] promulgated
by the Board of Building Standards of the Ohio Department of
Industrial Relations"), aff'd, 392 F.2d 171 (6th Cir. 1968) (per
curiam). Violating such codes could lead to an administrative
citation, and may constitute negligence per se in some
jurisdictions. See, e.g., Perkinson v. Gilbert/Robinson, Inc., 821
F.2d 686, 692 (D.C. Cir. 1987) (District of Columbia); Burran, 422
-32-
F.2d 133 at 135-36 (New Mexico); Employers Fire Ins. Co. v. Laney
& Duke Storage Warehouse Co., 392 F.2d 138, 140-41 (5th Cir. 1968)
(Florida).
Many building, fire, electric, and other safety codes
with the force of law were originally developed as industry
standards by private nongovernmental entities and then adopted into
law. Such privately-developed codes can be adopted into law in two
different ways: directly or by reference. Direct adoption occurs
when a model code is originally drafted by a nongovernmental body,
but then incorporated wholesale (i.e., reproduced) into state or
local law and promulgated (in its full text) as an ordinary statute
or administrative regulation. See generally Building Officials &
Code Adm'rs v. Code Tech., Inc., 628 F.2d 730, 732 (1st Cir. 1980)
(explaining that Massachusetts Building Code, promulgated as state
administrative regulation, was explicitly based on the Building
Officials and Code Administrators (BOCA) Building Code, with only
minor changes). Adoption by reference occurs when a government
entity with the authority to enact a safety code promulgates an
administrative regulation or ordinance that does not actually
contain the text of the privately-developed standard, but rather
incorporates it by reference. See R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-28.22-5
(requiring facilities dealing with flammable and combustible
liquids to be "in accordance with N.F.P.A. Standard 30, 1987
edition"); Donovan v. Daniel Constr. Co., 692 F.2d 818, 820 n.2
-33-
(1st Cir. 1982) (federal Occupational Safety and Health
Administration regulations required employers to install and use
electrical facilities in accordance with National Electrical Code,
NFPA, and other standards); Cal.-Pac. Utils. Co. v. United States,
194 Ct. Cl. 703, 781 n.7 (1971) (Nevada law required that power
lines be maintained in accordance with standards of National
Electrical Safety Code).
The cases reveal that the practices for placing legally
binding state or local safety regulations into a case are
undergoing a historic shift. In older cases from the 1950s and
1960s, courts generally treated state and local safety regulations
as evidence for the jury, subject to the ordinary rules of
evidence. See Stemple v. Phillips Petroleum Co., 430 F.2d 178,
180, 182-83 (10th Cir. 1970) (treating NFPA standards adopted by
state fire marshal as evidence); Burran, 422 F.2d at 135 n.3 (New
Mexico building code "was introduced in evidence without
objection"); Laney & Duke Storage Warehouse Co., 392 F.2d at 139
("'Portions of the Ordinance Code of the City of Jacksonville and
portions of the Florida Fire Prevention Code were introduced in
evidence . . . .'") (quoting jury instructions); Curtis, 363 F.2d
at 974-75 (District of Columbia Building Code was offered into
evidence but improperly excluded); Hannan Constr. Co., 283 F. Supp.
at 997 ("Ohio Building Code [was] received in evidence"). Those
cases do not explain why the courts treated law as evidence.
-34-
Rather, they simply assume the propriety of that approach. Indeed,
it is probably safe to guess that counsel did not even request
judicial notice.21
As Professor McCormick anticipated, however, more recent
cases have reflected a shift in the treatment of state and local
safety codes. Beginning around 1970, courts have slowly shifted
from treating these codes as evidence to treating them as law that
must be placed into a case by judicial notice rather than proof.
See Cal.-Pac. Utils. Co., 194 Ct. Cl. at 781 n.7 (taking judicial
notice of relevant standards of National Electrical Safety Code,
which was incorporated by reference into Nevada law). The change
has not always been smooth or steady, and some cases reveal
ambivalence, or even confusion, regarding the proper treatment of
such codes. See Perkinson, 821 F.2d at 688 & n.1;22 United States
v. Holley, 493 F.2d 581, 583-84 & n.3 (9th Cir. 1974) (appellant
21
An exception that perhaps proves the rule is Pub. Hous.
Admin. v. Bristol Township, 146 F. Supp. 859, 866 n.5 (E.D. Pa.
1957). There, the proponent of a local building code submitted
exhibits containing the entire code, but for some reason only
formally offered certain portions into evidence. For eminently
practical reasons, the court took judicial notice of the remainder.
22
In Perkinson, the trial court apparently excluded plaintiff's
evidentiary proffer of the District of Columbia Building Code, and
instead stated that it would take judicial notice of the Code. At
the close of trial, the defendant argued that the plaintiff "waived
her right to have the regulations considered by the jury because
she failed to put them in evidence." After a defendant's verdict,
the trial court admitted that it had "put plaintiff's counsel
off-guard by offering to take judicial notice of the regulations"
and granted the plaintiff's motion for a new trial. 821 F.2d at
688 & n.1.
-35-
had sought to introduce into evidence an extract, the authenticity
of which was not challenged, from county regulatory code; Court of
Appeals expressly declined to address "the propriety of the
practice of admitting extracts from local statutes or ordinances
into evidence vis-a-vis the taking of judicial notice by the Court
of such laws," because appellant had made no request for judicial
notice); cf. Bryant v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 407 F.2d 576, 579-80
& n.2 (4th Cir. 1969) (collecting cases on both sides of "the
ancient rule of the common law that courts may not take judicial
notice of municipal ordinances"). Illustrating the ongoing
confusion in this area, the Tenth Circuit changed positions three
times in a fifteen-year period before finally deciding that a court
may take judicial notice of local ordinances. See Melton v. City
of Oklahoma City, 879 F.2d 706, 724 & n.25 (10th Cir. 1989) (court
may take judicial notice of local ordinances), vacated on other
grounds, 928 F.2d 920 (10th Cir. 1991) (en banc); Ruhs v. Pac.
Power & Light, 671 F.2d 1268, 1273 (10th Cir. 1982) (no judicial
notice of local ordinances); Allred v. Svarczkopf, 573 F.2d 1146,
1151 (10th Cir. 1978) (taking judicial notice of local ordinances);
Dewell v. Lawson, 489 F.2d 877, 879 (10th Cir. 1974) (no judicial
notice of local ordinances). As time progresses, however, the
view that state or local safety codes must be proven as evidence is
being overtaken by the view that these codes should be judicially
-36-
noticed. This evolution has proceeded much as Professor McCormick
envisioned:
[W]hen the source-material was not easily
accessible to the judge . . . law has been
treated as a peculiar species of fact,
requiring formal proof. . . . [A]s these
materials become more accessible, the tendency
is toward permitting the judges to do what
perhaps they should have done in the
beginning, that is, to rely on the diligence
of counsel to provide the necessary materials,
and accordingly to take judicial notice of all
law. This seems to be the goal toward which
the practice is marching.
McCormick on Evidence § 335. In particular, the Seventh and Tenth
Circuits have abandoned the old distinction between state statutes
and local ordinances, and held that courts may take judicial notice
of ordinances upon an adequate submission. See Melton, 879 F.2d at
724 & n.25; Newcomb v. Brennan, 558 F.2d 825, 829 (7th Cir. 1977)
("We hold that matters of public record such as state statutes,
city charters, and city ordinances fall within the category of
'common knowledge' and are therefore proper subjects for judicial
notice."); see also Holst v. Countryside Enters., Inc., 14 F.3d
1319, 1322 n.4 (8th Cir. 1994) ("[I]t would not be appropriate to
prove the fire code by the testimony of the expert architect.
Ordinarily, codes, regulations, and statutes are, if relevant,
established through judicial notice.").
Thus, the evolving trend in the law is that mandatory
safety codes (like local ordinances or state administrative
regulations in general) are, when feasible, established by judicial
-37-
notice, not by witness testimony or other factual proof. The
rationale for requiring such codes to be offered into evidence and
proven -- the practical difficulty of obtaining the necessary
materials -- has been undermined by developments in technology and
open government practices that often make it easier to find the
relevant law.23 Cf. Madeline Marie Nursing Homes, 694 F.2d at 446
(noting that Ohio administrative regulations were not published
until 1976, and consequently there was "no readily available source
from which [the] court [could] independently ascertain the exact
status of the Ohio regulations in effect in 1976 and earlier.").
Furthermore, this trend is paralleled by a similar change of view
in most state court systems.24
23
I do not mean to suggest that state or local safety codes,
local ordinances, and the like are always readily available. My
point is that when they are readily available, the rationale for
requiring them to be offered into evidence and proven to the jury
is undermined.
24
See, e.g., Hawthorne Sav. & Loan Ass'n v. City of Signal
Hill, 23 Cal. Rptr. 2d 272, 275 n.2 (Cal. Ct. App. 1993) (taking
judicial notice of municipal code and of Uniform Code for the
Abatement of Dangerous Buildings); Jimenez v. Hawk, 683 A.2d 457,
460 (D.C. 1996) (trial court took judicial notice of D.C. Fire
Code); Rothstein v. City Univ. of N.Y., 599 N.Y.S.2d 39, 40 (N.Y.
App. Div. 1993) (trial court took sua sponte judicial notice of
city building code); Commonwealth v. Marcus, 690 A.2d 842, 844-45
(Pa. Commw. Ct. 1997) (trial court took judicial notice of BOCA
Building Code, adopted by town ordinance); Hernandez v. Houston
Lighting & Power Co., 795 S.W.2d 775, 776-77 (Tex. App. 1990)
(trial court properly took judicial notice of the National Electric
Safety Code after providing the opposition with an opportunity to
rebut its accuracy); but see Childers v. Richmond County, 467
S.E.2d 176, 177 (Ga. 1996) (court cannot take judicial notice of
city or county ordinances) (internal quotation marks omitted);
Camara v. Bd. of Appeals, 662 N.E.2d 719, 720 (Mass. App. Ct. 1996)
-38-
In sum, the rationale for not judicially noticing local
or state law other than public state statutes has largely eroded,
and the evolution of the law points in this direction. In my view,
when possible, local ordinances -- including safety codes that have
the force of law -- should be placed into a case via the mechanism
of judicial notice of law, not proof to the jury.
E. Capital's Burden
Because judicial notice of law is a practical doctrine,
the burden of production for the proponent of the law should depend
largely on the nature of the legal materials and how readily they
may be accessed by ordinary legal research methods. If the
document may be accessed by a widely used electronic legal research
service or found in the collection of any reasonably well stocked
public law library, then (absent a local court rule to the
contrary) a simple citation will almost always suffice.
Here, the materials were not so readily available. While
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-28.22-5 is a public state statute, readily
retrievable by the simplest legal research and itself subject to
judicial notice under Lamar, it is not fully specified. To fully
understand what the statute requires, one must turn to NFPA 30,
which is privately authored, published, and copyrighted. In
respects relevant here, however, it does not differ from an
unpublished ordinance or regulation: it is neither reproduced in
(court cannot take judicial notice of municipal zoning by-laws).
-39-
the Rhode Island statute books nor retrievable via commonly used
legal research methods.
1. Unchallenged Copies
If Capital had provided the district court with a copy of
NFPA 30 that had been certified by the state of Rhode Island as
official, the court would have been required, in my view, to take
judicial notice of it. NFPA 30 is, after all, part of the law of
Rhode Island. In the presence of a certified copy of NFPA 30, I
cannot imagine why it would be necessary or even helpful to prove
its contents or authenticity in lieu of the court taking judicial
notice of law. See generally Fed. R. Evid. 902(4) (certified
copies of public records are self-authenticating); Ryan v. E.A.I.
Constr. Corp., 511 N.E.2d 1244, 1252 (Ill. App. Ct. 1987) ("The
court took judicial notice of the [Chicago Building C]ode after
plaintiff tendered a certified copy to the court.").
If Capital had presented the district court with an
uncertified copy, the analysis would be almost the same. Parties
routinely submit copies of documents of law to federal courts, and
certified copies are rarely required. If Capital had presented the
district court with a copy of the 1987 edition of NFPA 30 that bore
reasonable indicia of authenticity, the court would have been
authorized to judicially notice it, after giving Getty Properties
a reasonable opportunity to contest its authenticity and accuracy
before the court. Cf. S. Pac. Co. v. De Valle Da Costa, 190 F.
-40-
689, 697-98 (1st Cir. 1911) (noting that "under ordinary
circumstances, informality in proof of a general statute of one of
the United States [is not] a sufficient ground for reversal by a
United States court" if there is no actual dispute regarding the
statute's contents). If the authenticity and accuracy of that
uncertified copy of NFPA 30 were not contested, the court, in my
view, would probably have been required to judicially notice it.
2. Challenged Copies
If, on the other hand, there had been a genuine dispute
about the authenticity and accuracy of a proffered copy,25 I believe
that the court -- not the jury -- would have been required to
resolve that dispute. I recognize that traditional doctrine
required the proponent to "prove" ordinances to the jury, see,
e.g., Robinson, 164 F. at 176, which presumably would determine the
law in case of a dispute. But this practice made little sense then
and makes less sense now. Cf. Arthur John Keeffe, William B.
Landis, Jr., & Robert B. Shaad, Sense and Nonsense About Judicial
25
Such disputes do arise. See, e.g., H. Wayne Palmer & Assocs.
v. Heldor Indus., 839 F. Supp. 770, 774-75 (D. Kan. 1993)
(plaintiffs presented expert affidavit that fire code was adopted
by city, but did not provide city ordinance that allegedly adopted
code, and defendants insisted that fire code was never adopted by
city); St. James Constr. Co. v. Morlock, 597 A.2d 1042, 1047 (Md.
Ct. Spec. App. 1991) (appellant argued that trial court erred
because it "took judicial notice of copies of . . . national
building standards rather than the County Code itself, thereby
making it difficult to determine whether and how the national
building standards had been amended in their adoption by [the]
County").
-41-
Notice, 2 Stan. L. Rev. 664, 674 (1950) (describing the view that
determination of foreign law presents a jury question as a
"ridiculous proposition" with "disastrous" results). There was a
view that disputes about the authenticity, accuracy, and contents
of documents were "factual," and factual disputes must be resolved
on admissible evidence submitted to the jury. That view hangs too
much importance on the abstraction of "fact" and not enough on the
logical and institutionally optimal allocation of responsibility
between the judge and the jury. See Norman J. Singer, 2 Sutherland
on Statutory Construction § 39:7 (6th ed. 2000) ("'Proof' of the
ordinance does not make it a fact; it only presents for judicial
consideration a part of the law which may not be as available as
other parts."); cf. Christopher B. Mueller & Laird C. Kirkpatrick,
1 Federal Evidence § 59 (2d ed. 1994) ("Sometimes, because a
question of 'fact' was thought to be involved [in establishing
foreign law], the proof was made to the jury, although the
inappropriateness of having juries make determinations of law is
now generally recognized.").
In my view, the judge, not the jury, should determine the
governing law. "It would appear to be self-evident that it is
peculiarly the function of the judge to find and interpret the law
applicable to the issues in a trial and, in a jury case, to
announce his findings of law to the jury for their guidance."
McCormick on Evidence § 335. If factfinding is necessary to
-42-
ascertain the law, the judge should find the necessary facts and
then instruct the jury:
When a judge presiding in the presence of a
jury decides a question of fact, a
sufficiently unique event occurs to merit
special treatment because the jury is thought
to perform the factfinding role in common law
countries. . . . There is nothing very
remarkable about a judge ruling on the tenor
of the law to be applied to the resolution of
the controversy, however, because by
definition this is the very function judges
are supposed to perform.
Id.; see also Neuber v. Royal Realty Co., 195 P.2d 501, 517-518
(Cal. Ct. App. 1948) (trial court had refused to admit city
ordinances into evidence but instead instructed jury as to what
conduct would violate those ordinances; affirming and explaining
that "it would seem to us just as improper to submit ordinances to
the jury for interpretation as it would be to hand them a copy of
the Civil Code for them to peruse in determining what the law of
the state was"), overruled in part on other grounds, Porter v.
Montgomery Ward & Co., 313 P.2d 854, 857 (Cal. 1957).26
26
The fact that the jury should not be called upon to decide
the law has no impact on whether the jury may see the law. These
are independent questions. Consider an ordinary statute.
Typically, the judge instructs the jury on the law, and does not
give jurors a copy of relevant statutes:
In the orderly trial of a case, the law is given to the
jury by the court and not introduced as evidence. It is
the function of the jury to determine the facts from the
evidence and apply the law as given by the court to the
facts as found by them from the evidence. Obviously, it
would be most confusing to a jury to have legal material
introduced as evidence and then argued as to what the law
-43-
The superiority of this institutional allocation of
responsibility between judge and jury is illustrated by what could
have happened in this case if the jury had been required to
determine the law. Suppose that Capital had provided the 2000
edition of NFPA 30 (which, in fact, it possessed) and a witness who
would testify that the 1987 edition was materially identical, but
that Getty Properties had disputed that assertion and provided a
contrary witness. It would make little sense for the jury to
decide what the law said, and then for the judge to instruct the
jury on the law based on what the jury had just told the judge.
Suppose, even more simply, that Capital had presented a certified,
undisputed copy of NFPA 30 to the court, but the district court
declined to take judicial notice and instead let the jury decide.
But what exactly would the jury decide? Whether NFPA 30 is in fact
part of the law of Rhode Island? Whether the certified, undisputed
is or ought to be.
United States v. Bernhardt, 642 F.2d 251, 253 (8th Cir. 1981)
(quoting Cooley v. United States, 501 F.2d 1249, 1253-54 (9th Cir.
1974)). However, the judge has broad discretion to give the jurors
copies of statutes for their deliberations, or decline to do so, as
she sees fit. See United States v. Polizzi, 500 F.2d 856, 875-76
(9th Cir. 1974) (court sent statutes and regulations into jury
room; no abuse of discretion because statutes and regulations were
extremely complex and judge could justifiably believe that it would
have been better to give jury the statutes and regulations rather
than have the jury attempt a reconstruction from notes or from
memory). If ordinary statutes, which are always subject to
judicial notice, and should almost never be offered into evidence,
can be given to the jury, then it follows that the trial court has
the discretion to publish to the jury NFPA 30 or any other source
of law, even though the law does not enter the case as "evidence."
-44-
copy presented in court accurately states NFPA 30 to the extent
that it is part of the law of Rhode Island? Further suppose that
the jury got the law wrong: would its decision be reviewable by an
appellate court, and under what standard -- sufficiency of the
evidence? The system works best when the judge conducts the
necessary investigation and determines the law:
In determining the content or applicability of
a rule of domestic law, the judge is
unrestricted in his investigation and
conclusion. . . . He may make an independent
search for persuasive data or rest content
with what he has or what the parties present.
He may reach a conclusion in accord with the
overwhelming weight of available data or
against it. If he is a trial judge, his
conclusion is subject to review.
Edmund M. Morgan, Judicial Notice, 57 Harv. L. Rev. 269, 270
(1944).
3. Procedure for Invoking Judicial Notice
Capital's submission need not have been accompanied by a
formal request for judicial notice of law. Rather, the question is
whether the proponent has submitted material to the court (and to
opposing parties) that effectively makes the judicial notice of law
request. If the material is readily available or actually
submitted in full to the court, the proponent need not formally
request judicial notice of law; the submission of a readily
retrievable citation, or of copies of the relevant documents, ought
to suffice. See State Dep't of Highways v. Halvorson, 181 N.W.2d
473, 476 (Minn. 1970) ("Where a court is asked to take judicial
-45-
notice of an agency regulation . . . counsel should be prepared to
exhibit to the court the relevant contents of the regulation,
either by tendering a copy of the published regulation or by
reference to some other readily available official report
disclosing its contents.") (emphasis added); Commonwealth v.
Marcus, 690 A.2d 842, 844-45 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 1997) (where counsel
submitted a memorandum to trial court at beginning of the hearing,
setting forth BOCA Code and ordinance sections, but did not submit
an authenticated copy of the complete ordinance, "counsel fulfilled
his obligation to aid the trial court in obtaining the relevant
provisions of the Ordinance. Hence, the trial court properly took
judicial notice of the Ordinance with the aid of the counsel
. . . ."). By the same token, the mere fact that a proponent
requests the court to judicially notice a body of law does not
suffice if that law is neither readily available nor actually
submitted.
District courts need not go to Herculean lengths to
discover the law when counsel do not adequately present it.
Rather, the court should have the discretion to determine whether
the proponent's submission sufficiently enables the court to
ascertain the law. Cf. Bello, 194 F.3d at 23 (reviewing trial
court's decision to take judicial notice of adjudicative fact under
Rule 201 for abuse of discretion). Under that standard, if the
court cannot ascertain the law from counsel's submission, then,
-46-
virtually by definition, the submission is inadequate.
Accordingly, the court need not judicially notice a document that
was never presented to the court and that is not reasonably
available by ordinary legal research. Cf. Holst, 14 F.3d at 1323
(affirming trial court's exclusion of cross-examination testimony
regarding fire code; where party neither introduced fire code into
evidence by direct testimony nor requested judicial notice of code,
it was not before the court and could not be investigated in cross-
examination or on re-direct); see also United States v. Buswell, 45
C.M.R. 742, 747 & n.3 (A.C.M.R. 1972) (reversing conviction where
soldier was convicted of violating classified regulation, contents
of which were not presented to military court, and noting that if
the regulation were "physically available" to court, court "would
not hesitate to take judicial notice of it," but without a copy of
allegedly violated regulation, there was nothing to judicially
notice, and therefore the charge failed to state an offense);
Marcher v. Butler, 749 P.2d 486, 489 (Idaho 1988) ("offhand mention
of building codes" in summary judgment memorandum "was insufficient
to put the trial court on notice of them"); Plains Transp. of Kan.,
Inc. v. Baldwin, 535 P.2d 865, 871 (Kan. 1975) (appellants did not
"make a sufficient presentation for the trial judge . . . .
Essentially, the district court had nothing before it which
justified or required the giving of [appellants' requested]
instruction.").
-47-
F. Conclusion
I summarize the principles of judicial notice of law that
I have described here and then apply them to the district court's
ruling on Getty's motion for judgment as a matter of law. Parties
generally must identify the law that is essential to their case.
No formal request for judicial notice of law need be made, but the
relevant law must be provided to the court in a meaningful form.
Where this law can be readily retrieved from a simple citation,
providing that citation to the court will usually suffice. Where
the law is difficult to obtain, the proponent must physically
provide the court with a copy. A certified copy of the ordinance
or other legal document will almost always suffice. An uncertified
copy will suffice if it bears reasonable indicia of authenticity
and there is no genuine dispute as to its accuracy. The court, not
the jury, must resolve any such disputes. Finally, where the law
is not readily obtainable and the proponent does not provide the
court with any copy at all, the court may properly conclude that
the proponent has not established the contents of that law.
Pursuant to its judicial notice of law request, Capital
was required to make the 1987 edition of NFPA 30 -- which is not
readily obtainable by ordinary legal research -- available to the
district court. The court explicitly asked Capital to submit a
copy of NFPA 30. Capital was unable to provide one. Therefore, I
-48-
join my colleagues' conclusion that the court was not required to
take judicial notice of NFPA 30. See ante at 18-19.
Ordinarily, a Rule 50(a) motion is based on a lack of
evidence, not a lack of law. In this breach of contract action,
however, Capital claimed that the improvements were required by a
"City, State, or Federal regulation[] applicable to the operation
of the pipelines." Since NFPA 30, through R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-
28.22-5, was the only "regulation[] applicable to the operation of
the pipelines" arguably involved in this case, and Capital did not
provide an adequate basis for judicially noticing that standard,
Capital failed to provide a "legally sufficient evidentiary basis
for a reasonable jury to find" that the fire suppression equipment
was required by any regulation. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a)(1).
Capital's failure to produce a copy of NFPA 30 was fatal to its
case. Therefore, I concur in the per curiam opinion affirming the
district court.
-49-
Getty Petroleum Marketing, Inc. v. Capital Terminal Co.
Court: Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Date filed: 2004-12-10
Citations: 391 F.3d 312
Copy Citations