Jeff KosseffDec 23, 2022
A huge failure of two branches of government. There is no good reason to allow the judiciary to profit from the public’s access to court documents. https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/no-free-pacer-us-lawmakers-exclude-proposal-spending-bill-2022-12-20/
No free PACER as U.S. lawmakers exclude proposal from spending bill

U.S. lawmakers have left a proposal to make the federal judiciary's PACER online court records system free out of a sprawling, $1.66 trillion spending measure <a href="/world/us/us-congress-advance-17-trillion-govt-funding-bill-2022-12-20/">unveiled on Tuesday</a>, a setback for advocates as the current Congress nears its end.

Reuters
Show threadJeff KosseffDec 23, 2022
The judiciary attempts to justify these fees in many misleading ways, including by claiming that researchers can get fee exemptions. But the judges create so many barriers to make this nearly impossible. How do I know? This is the response I received after applying for one.
Show threadJeff Kosseff
For my last three books, PACER fees were the single largest cost. They consumed most of my royalties. Fortunately I have a day job so I could afford it. But it prevents so many others from even trying to write about our judicial system.
Dec 23, 2022 at 12:48pmMastodon for iOS
Show threadJeff KosseffDec 23, 2022
And every year, we are *almost* at a point when the judges have their cash cow taken away from them. But miraculously something happens and federal judges are allowed to continue using their control over public records to collect fees entirely unrelated to the cost of maintaining a terrible website.
Show threadDouglas BarnesDec 23, 2022

@jkosseff

Thankfully NY state courts are on a unified system that is a pain in the ass for research, but is free.

California, on the other hand -- balkanized, less useful than Pacer, no equivalent of Recap, and in many places expensive enough to make Pacer blush.

Obviously, bulk access should be free, and third parties can then build useful tools on top of that. But this stuff is baked hard into budgets and nobody cares enough to either come up with more $$ or piss off a bunch of judges.

Show threadJay S. FleischmanDec 23, 2022

@salguod @jkosseff I use both the NY and CA systems to track my cases. CA is horrifying.

Each county’s website is a fiefdom, fees are all over the place, sites are a hodgepodge.

For that, defendants are charged a fee to file any first appearance? How this isn’t an access to justice issue is beyond me.

Show threadDouglas BarnesDec 23, 2022

@JayFleischman @jkosseff

Even though I'm admitted in CA, I'm not a litigator and I only recently ran into this when trying to do a bit of research on the practical aspects of a contract law topic. What. A. Mess.

Show threadJay S. FleischmanDec 23, 2022
@salguod @jkosseff I've been admitted in NY since 1995, CA since 2012. I'm consistently flabbergasted by the CA state court system.
Show threadDouglas BarnesDec 23, 2022

@JayFleischman
@jkosseff

I just checked Colorado (I grew up there) - shocked that such a progressive state just refers to you commercial vendors to pay $$ for anything beyond a party search.

And also (pleasantly) surprised that Connecticut (where I live but don't practice) has free access to all civil case documents, although searching is very limited.

Have you seen anyone attempt a 50 state rollup on this?

Show threadDouglas BarnesDec 23, 2022

@JayFleischman @jkosseff

I'm also playing around with the free trial of Docket Bird: https://www.docketbird.com/members_home

Its coverage is limited, and it can't make $$ go away altogether, but interestingly, it seems to have a Recap-like mechanism where once someone pays it stores the document, which is then available for no additional $$.

DocketBird

Show threadJay S. FleischmanDec 23, 2022
@salguod @jkosseff I’ve never seen a full 50-state review but my own efforts to find info on cases in MO and a few other states have been awful.
Show threadFrischaDec 23, 2022
@jkosseff pacer is awful. Recap note has a system to claim the free copies litigants get so hopefully they will accumulate a bigger share.
Show threadMikeWasDec 23, 2022
@jkosseff that last sentence may be the entire point.