E-filing system at Supreme Court will make new filings accessible for free
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The U.S. Supreme Court announced Thursday that it is adopting an electronic filing system beginning Nov. 13.
The system will make “virtually all new filings” available to the public at no cost, the Supreme Court said in its announcement. The National Law Journal (sub. req.) has a story.
Initially, official filing of documents will continue to be on paper, but parties represented by lawyers will also have to submit electronic versions. Those without lawyers will have their documents scanned by court personnel and made available to the public.
The announcement follows the rollout of the Supreme Court’s redesigned website on July 28. Helpful changes include information about cases being argued on particular days and etiquette information for court visitors, according to a previous National Law Journal story (sub. req.).
Fix The Court, a Supreme Court transparency advocate, reacted to the electronic filing announcement in a statement: “Most federal appeals courts have required electronic filing for years, so I’m pleased the Supreme Court has finally joined its institutional counterparts by implementing this policy,” executive director Gabe Roth said.
Roth also said he hopes the change will lead to other improvements, such as live audio for oral arguments and a software-based conflict check system.
