Also known as: FRE 201 · Fed. R. Evid. 201 · judicial notice
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A federal evidentiary rule authorizing courts to recognize adjudicative facts without formal proof when the facts are not subject to reasonable dispute because they are generally known within the territorial jurisdiction or can be accurately and readily determined from sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned.
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Rowan Russell sued Radiant Technologies for patent infringement over a mobile app feature. During trial the judge displayed an app store record on a screen and announced she would recognize the first public release date of the software version at issue. The court acted without any party request yet supplied the parties an opportunity to respond in open court before relying on the date.
Ricardo Rojas requested judicial notice of precise sunrise and sunset times on the date of an alleged outage. He supplied printouts from the official U.S. Naval Observatory website. The court granted the request because the government source supplied the necessary information and its accuracy could not reasonably be questioned.
Rosa Ruiz asked the court to recognize historical weather conditions from a government meteorological database. After the court indicated it would take notice, defense counsel made a timely request to be heard on whether the database qualified as an indisputable source. The court scheduled argument before finalizing the noticed fact.
Ralph Richardson's expert relied on a property inspection manual during direct examination. The opposing party challenged the manual's reliability. The court took judicial notice that the manual qualified as a reliable authority because it was widely referenced by engineers, allowing the statements to be read into evidence but not received as an exhibit.
Ryan Roberts sought judicial notice that an annual developer conference was the largest technology event in the district. Local media coverage repeatedly described the event in those terms. The court evaluated whether the fact was generally known throughout the territorial jurisdiction before deciding whether to grant the request.
Ronald Reed challenged an agency order and the record contained references to publicly available outage maps. The reviewing body considered whether to recognize the maps as indisputable facts capable of ready determination from unquestionable sources without requiring additional party proof.
A court must take judicial notice when a party requests it and supplies the necessary information showing the fact can be accurately and readily determined from sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned. This mandatory obligation appears in Rule 201(c)(2). The rule distinguishes this requirement from the court's discretionary authority to notice facts on its own initiative.
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…the District Court was entitled to take notice of the full contents of the published articles referenced in the complaint under Fed. R. Evid. 201. Notebaert was also quoted as saying that entering new markets as a CLEC would not be "a sustainable economic model" because the CLEC pricing model is "just ... nuts," and that the…
…jury's securing the information it sought from petitioner by other means.[^maj-9] The Supreme Judicial Court, however, took "judicial notice
…S. C. § 3481. [^disA-5]: See generally 8 Wigmore, Evidence § 2250 (McNaughton rev. ed. 1961). [^disA-6]: Model Code of Evidence, Rule 201 (1942); Uniform Rule
…other hand, cite a considerable body of evidence and opinion indicating that there is no such deterrent effect. Although we take
…the Texas appellate court deferred to the jury's finding. Id. at 565. That court rejected the defendant's invitation to take judicial notice
On timely request a party is entitled to be heard on the propriety of taking judicial notice and the nature of the fact to be noticed. If the court takes notice before notifying a party, the party may still request a hearing afterward. This protection ensures the adversarial process addresses the appropriateness of the noticed fact.
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Rule 201 governs only judicial notice of adjudicative facts and does not apply to legislative or evaluative facts. Adjudicative facts are those concerning the parties or events in the case that are not subject to reasonable dispute. Legislative facts that inform legal reasoning or policy remain outside the rule's restrictions on sources and procedures.
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In a civil case the court must instruct the jury to accept the noticed fact as conclusive. This aligns with the preponderance standard by preventing the jury from second-guessing indisputable facts. The instruction differs from the more flexible directive permitted in criminal cases.
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