Sources Contact Advanced Search Tutorials

An Interest In:

Web News this Week

Search Archive

Some of Our Sources

View All Sources

Help Webnuz

Referal links:

February 3, 2020 02:41 pm

PACER Fee Battle Pits Nonprofits, Supporters Against Government

Three nonprofits will ask the Federal Circuit this week to consider a Goldilocks question: whether fees the government charges to access court records are too high, too low, or just right. From a report: The nonprofits say the fees violate federal law because they're higher than what's needed to operate the system. They represent a certified class of 1.4 million users of the federal judiciary's Public Access to Court Records (PACER) system. The federal court system has come under fire for how it operates PACER, which processed more than 500 million requests for case information last fiscal year. Critics argue the pay system reduces transparency and erodes public trust in the courts. The government argues it's authorized to charge fees that exceed the cost of operating PACER and use the money for other court access projects. A lower court said PACER fees should be "just right," in that they should cover services that provide public access to electronic court information, but not pay for other court technology projects. Both sides appealed to the Federal Circuit. Fees for downloading a copy of a filing run 10 cents per page, up to $3 per document. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts collected more than $145 million in fees in 2014 alone, according to the complaint.

Slashdot

Slashdot was originally created in September of 1997 by Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda. Today it is owned by Geeknet, Inc..

More About this Source Visit Slashdot