The Federal Courts' docket database PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) is increasing the amount of free searches/documents users can access before generating a bill.

In it's October 2019 quarterly newsletter, PACER announced that:

"Beginning Jan. 1, 2020, if a PACER user quarterly usage is $30 or less, the bill will be waived. This is an increase from the existing $15 or less quarterly fee waiver. Users will see this reflected in the April 2020 billing statement. This will result in more than 75 percent of users accessing court records paying no fee in a given quarter. The Judicial Conference approved this action at their September 17, 2019, meeting."

The post PACER Increases Amount Users Can Search/Download Before Generating a Bill appeared first on Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) in California, MCLE Los Angeles, CLE Orange County, Irvine & San Francisco.

It never ceases to amaze me that our own U.S. Supreme Court does not post its briefs at their site, AND also fails to provide information on where to find Supreme Court briefs for free. Instead, the Court’s site tells you to obtain briefs from pay sites such as Lexis and Westlaw, and from Document Retrieval Services. The only free site it does note is one that hasn’t posted any new briefs since 2007, Findlaw.

Dear U.S. Supreme Court website: The ABA Preview of U.S. Supreme Court Cases (http://www.americanbar.org/publications/preview_home/2015_2016_briefs.html) provides the current U.S. Supreme Court term’s merit briefs for free. To find the prior year’s briefs use the same URL as above (http://www.americanbar.org/publications/preview_home/2015_2016_briefs.html) but replace the 2015_2016_ years with 2014_2015_. It appears that the ABA site only goes back one term. If you are reading this after the 2015/2016 term, then replace the 2015_2016_ years with 2016_2017_ (and so on).  As to amicus briefs, the ABA site is not as up-to-date as I would have hoped it would be.

Another site that archives current and older briefs (both merit and amicus) is Scotusblog. Scotusblog archives back to 2007, which is much further back than the ABA’s site. Choose a term to view the list of cases for that term. They will be listed in “sitting order,” so click the link “View this list sorted by case name” to find your case alphabetically. Or, I would recommend you use your Find function (control f for p.c.s and command f for macs) and enter part of the case name into the find box to be taken directly to the listed case. Once you find the case, click on its title. Then you will see a docket sheet displaying the Proceedings and Orders, listed from oldest to newest. On January 5, 2016, I was able to locate an amicus brief filed January 4, 2016, but I really wanted one from January 5, 2016. So for very recent amicus briefs, your best bet is to Google it. In this case, Google successfully located the amicus brief I was looking for - posted by a non-profit agency that was interested in the case, but not a party or one of the amica.

The post Dear U.S. Supreme Court Web Site: Where are Your Briefs? appeared first on Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) in California, MCLE Los Angeles, CLE Orange County, Irvine & San Francisco.

Changes to the PACER system stemming from the announcment, include:

• Allow[ing] courts, at the discretion of the presiding judge, to make digital audio recordings of court hearings available online to the public through PACER, for $2.40 per audio file.
• Adjust[ing] the Electronic Public Access fee schedule so that users are not billed unless they accrue charges of more than $10 of PACER usage in a quarterly billing cycle, in effect quadrupling the amount of data available without charge.
• Approv[ing] a pilot in up to 12 courts to publish federal district and bankruptcy court opinions via the Government Printing Office’s Federal Digital System (FDsys) so members of the public can more easily search across opinions and across courts.

Previously:

• digital audio recordings of court hearings were available to the public by ordering a CD for $26.00 per audio file.
• PACER users were not billed unless their accounts totaled at least $10 in a one-year period.

For step-by-step details on utilizing and searching FDsys, PACER and its US Party/Case Index see The Cybersleuth's Guide to the Internet.

Also buried in the press release is news that a "new version of the [US Party/Case Index] search tool, which includes additional search capabilities and result formats, has been developed and will be deployed under the new name PACER Case Locator this month." There is no indication if this new PACER Case Locator will encompass all courts with a unified search, or continue the holes in coverage of the existing US Party/Case Index.

The Judicial Conference is the policy-making body for the federal court system. The Chief Justice serves as its presiding officer. It is comprised of the chief judges of the 13 courts of appeals, a district judge from each of the 12 geographic circuits, and the chief judge of the Court of International Trade. The Conference meets twice a year to consider administrative and policy issues affecting the court system, and to make recommendations to Congress concerning legislation involving the Judicial Branch.

The post Judicial Conference Announces Changes to PACER appeared first on Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) in California, MCLE Los Angeles, CLE Orange County, Irvine & San Francisco.