Note:
Penelope E. Nicholson, The Scope of Federal Rule of Evidence 803(8)(C), 59 Texas L. Rev. 155 (1980).
 

Abstract:
This Note analyzes the appropriate scope of Federal Rule of Evidence 803(8)(C), the public records and reports exception to the hearsay rule. The House and Senate disagreed about the scope of the rule, the House favoring a strict construction of “factual findings” and the Senate favoring a broad interpretation, which most courts have adopted. The author argues that the liberal interpretation of “factual findings” has resulted in the admission of reports with unreliable and sensitive opinions and judgments. As a result, the author advocates an interpretation of “factual findings” that excludes opinions or conclusions that evaluate and/or fix responsibility and, in difficult cases, defer to the Federal Rules’ standards on opinion evidence.