Lieberman: What Is Up with PACER?

By Keith Perine | February 27, 2009 12:49 PM | | Comments (0)

Connecticut Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman wants to know why federal courts are still charging the public for electronic copies of court records.

Lieberman wrote today to U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal, who chairs the Judicial Conference's Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure. Lieberman noted that under a provision of a 2002 law, the federal courts were supposed to move away from charging money for electronic access to court filings. The charge for documents through the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system is eight cents per page.

"Seven years after the passage of the E-Government Act, it appears that little has been done to make these records freely available -- with PACER charging a higher rate than 2002," wrote Lieberman, who is the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

What's more, Lieberman pointed out, the Judicial Conference is turning a profit on PACER.

"Please explain whether the Judicial Conference is complying with (the 2002 law), how PACER fees are determined, and whether the Judicial Conference is only charging 'to the extent necessary' for records using the PACER system," Lieberman wrote.

Lieberman also said he is worried that the courts aren't being careful enough about redacting personal information from publicly available records, given another provision in the 2002 law aimed at protecting personal privacy in the records.

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