Carl Malamud
Public.Resource.Org, Inc.
1005 Gravenstein Highway North
Sebastopol, CA 95472
January 2, 2019
Richard C. Ruskell, Legislative Counsel
Office of Legislative Counsel
General Assembly
State of Georgia
316 State Capitol
Atlanta, Georgia 30334

Anders Ganten, Director of Government
Content Acquisition
The RELX Group (United Kingdom)
℅ LexisNexis (U.S. Branch Office)
201 Mission Street
San Francisco, California 94105

Dear Legislative Counsel Ruskell and Mr. Ganten:
I am writing in the matter of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (OCGA). Despite a
crystal-clear unanimous decision from United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh
Circuit on October 19, 2018, holding that people have the absolute right to speak and read
Georgia's official laws, I have been been unable to purchase a current copy of the OCGA.
I have sent numerous emails and placed numerous calls to my sales representative at the
LexisNexis, who has not responded (my account was terminated by LexisNexis during the
litigation). I’ve tried reaching out on Twitter, as have numerous others on that social media
platform. Again, no response. My lawyer called the LexisNexis lawyer who said I could buy
the code only if I paid the full rack rate—which I readily agreed to do—and then he promptly
dropped the matter. I wrote to Mr. Russell who said on November 19, 2018 that he would
“look into that matter,” and you have clearly not looked very long or very hard as I have not
heard back from anybody.
When the Honorable Richard W. Story of the United States District Court for the District of
Georgia issued a March 13, 2017 opinion granting summary judgement to the State of
Georgia, within hours I removed all trace of the OCGA itself, and all mention of the OCGA
from my web sites and from all web sites around the net. I did not wait for the April 7, 2017
permanent injunction to be issued, I complied immediately because I respect our system of
justice, because I respect the rule of law, and because I respect our courts.
This is in sharp contract to your own behavior, ignoring the clear and unambiguous ruling of
the United States Court of Appeals. Your behavior is an insult to the Court. I understand the
State of Georgia will be appealing their decision, and we look forward to meeting you in the
Supreme Court of the United States to argue our position. Until then, however, both the State
of Georgia and your foreign-based vendor have an obligation to obey the law of the United
States.
Mr. Ruskell, your game of “hide the code” brings dishonor on the people of Georgia, who
you are handsomely paid to serve. I have been attempting to discuss this issue with your
office since May 13, 2013, and not once has anybody deigned to talk to me. When you filed
suit on July 21, 2015, your complaint included bizarre accusations that my behavior was a
form of “terrorism.” After you won summary judgment, you filed an April 21, 2017 motion for

 Mr. Ruskell and Mr. Garten, Page 2
fees explaining to the court that I needed to be punished and made an example of to
dissuade others from attempting to make the laws available without first obtaining prior
permission from your vendor.
Mr. Anders, your corporation, with its immense resources and technical capabilities, can
easily make money through all manner of legitimate value-added products without
exercising arbitrary control over the content your office seeks to “acquire.” As a vendor to
the State of Georgia, you join them in the role of trustee on behalf of the people. Your
corporation often boasts of the unparalleled information technology at your disposal that
provides superior services to law firms and legal professionals. You have no need to engage
in this subterfuge and behind-the-scenes lobbying, and it is unconscionable for you to flout
the law of the United States as you have done by refusing to make the OCGA available to me.
If your foreign corporation wishes to do business in the United States, you should respect our
legal system and you must show respect for the pronouncements of our judges.
Mr. Ruskell, Mr. Anders, I ask of you one more time: Show Me The Code!
Sincerely yours,

Carl Malamud, President and Founder

Public.Resource.Org, Inc. (“Public Resource”)

A Public Charity Registered Under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code