The material in this record group was in well labeled folders when received. The civil cases in boxes deposited in May 1991 are in case number order, those deposited later are in alphabetical order by plaintiff; this arrangement was retained during processing. The criminal cases are in case number order throughout. Other material is in alphabetical order. The Judge's secretary, Judith Gilliam, provided the list of the types of papers in the collection used to assign series designations. With the exception of the alphabetical files of civil cases the material remains in received order

The Panel Cases, Series I, were appeal cases decided on the basis of evidence by a three judge panel; Judge Ryan was sitting by designation.

Series II, Civil Cases, includes such cases as those to quiet title, personal injury, foreclosures, product liability, discrimination (Civil Rights), environmental concerns, and debt collection. Case files in boxes stored in May 1991 are in case number order; those in boxes stored December 1994 and April 1995 are in alphabetical order by name of plaintiff. The two alphabetical files were combined into one sequence during processing. Boxes 16 to 19 in this series contain records for four cases with voluminous pleadings and exhibits: Marchand v. Mercy Medical Center is a medical malpractice suit; Balla v. State of Idaho Board of Corrections concerns rights of prisoners and prison conditions; The John Brassey material appears to be the incoherent ramblings of a man who refers to himself as "Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's functional mobile robot tenth man on the U.S. Supreme Court", and involves something he refers to as "Plan Scam"; finally Lucky Custer Gold v. Excel Minerals involves the lease of a mine and payment of royalties.

Judge Ryan's office kept a copy of every order the judge drafted and entered. Series three contains copies of those orders which were not placed in a judge's case file. They are in chronological order by year, with subdivisions for cases, social security disability, bankruptcy and status/scheduling conference. From 1982 to 1986 all files are in alphabetical order; from 1987 on the case files are in chronological order by month, while the other subject files remain in alphabetical order.

Series IV contains orders generated from petitions or complaints filed by prisoners from 1982 through 1993; the 1994 petitions are filed with civil orders. The petitions are in alphabetical order by petitioner. Also included are chronological correspondence files containing letters to the judge from prisoners in both the correctional center in Boise and in Orofino. One 1986 file includes letters concerning medical problems and concerns at the prisons, which were forwarded to the Director of Corrections.

Cases and other Death Penalty related material are in Series V. The case files are in alphabetical order by prisoner. Also included are handbooks and background material for meetings of the 9th circuit death penalty task force.

Series VI contains the judge's travel files and appointment books from 1982 through 1995. The travel files are in chronological order and contain correspondence and memos concerning meetings Judge Ryan attended or participated in. Also included are travel arrangements and programs. The file for the Idaho State Bar meeting in 1994 contains remarks written by Judge Ryan but delivered by Judge Lodge accepting the 1994 Distinguished Lawyers Award. The appointment books are prepared for judges by the West Publishing Company and contain many pages of legal information both before and after the dated pages. Some of the judge's appointments are on post-it notes. There are two appointment books for 1982: the American Express book has entries for January only, the West's Appointment Book for Judges and Lawyers has entries for February through December. Most entries in the appointment books appear to be in Judy Gilliam's handwriting.

The Jury Instructions in series VII are divided by Civil Cases and Criminal Cases; each is in alphabetical order. The civil cases are in order by plaintiffs last name, but, since the plaintiff in the criminal cases is always the United States, these are in order by defendant's last name. Most instructions deal with specific cases, but the judge also prepared instructions on special topics; the cases and topics are interfiled in one sequence. Some files include a special verdict form to be completed by the jury foreperson. Many preliminary instructions are the same for all cases. The instructions are not dated. Other court documents for most of the cases can be found in the appropriate case file series. The inventory lists both the title and nature of the case.

Series VIII contains the U.S. Court of Appeals decisions on Judge Ryan's cases The civil and criminal cases are interfiled alphabetically by first letter of the last name of the plaintiff in civil cases, and the last name of the defendant in criminal cases; each letter of the alphabet is then arranged chronologically.

The court records documenting the criminal cases Judge Ryan handled are in Series IX. These are filed in case number order. At the end of each year are files containing correspondence and sentencing material. The individual files contain court documents, memos from law clerks, judge's and clerk's notes, correspondence from friends and family of the defendant as to his/her character. The types of cases in this series include, but are not limited to, bank robbery, murder, transport of illegal aliens, embezzlement, possession and distribution of controlled substances, and fraud.

The final series contains chambers administrative files. These are in four parts, closed, chief judge, ninth circuit, and active. Each section is arranged alphabetically and folder headings are duplicated in the various sections. Included are circular letters from the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and other organizations to which Judge Ryan belonged. Other material includes correspondence, minutes of meetings, and information on personnel policies. The calendars in the closed administrative files are large "month at a glance" type calendars which list all of the judge's appointments.

Some folders contain confidential records. These items were in sealed envelopes when received, and remain in the original envelope in the appropriate file.

Duplicate copies of printed or near print material was discarded as were invoices for law books. Most of the legal folders were changed to letter size folders. In all the collection was reduced by 15.5 cubic feet.