from
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
REPORTER. A person employed in making out and publishing the history of
cases decided by the court.
2. The act of congress of August 26, 1842, sect., 2, enacts, that in
the supreme court of the United States, one reporter shall be appointed by
the court with the salary of twelve hundred and fifty dollars; provided that
he deliver to the secretary of state for distribution, one hundred and fifty
copies of each volume of reports that he shall hereafter prepare and
publish, immediately after the publication thereof, which publication shall
be made annually within four months after the adjournment of the court at
which the decisions are made.
3. In some of the states the reporters are appointed by authority of
law; in others, they are volunteers.