Law Libraries
Tired of Paying for PACER Docs? Princeton Group Offers Alternative
Posted Aug 14, 2009 12:34 PM CST
By Martha Neil
Many federal courts make their case documents readily available online—for a price. And even though it's only 8 cents a page, that can quickly add up for frequent users.
As some users unhappy about the cost of the PACER (short for Public Access to Court Electronic Records) system lobby for changes, others are developing workarounds. The latest is a website launched today, RECAP, that offers a download to open source software through which PACER documents are seamlessly duplicated as they are pulled up by participants, according to Ars Technica.
The Firefox extension puts the duplicated documents on a mirror hosted by Internet Archive, and eventually, if enough people use the RECAP website system, there will be a substantial library of free documents available, the law blog explains.
RECAP was developed by the Center for Information Techology Policy at Princeton University.
Additional and related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: "Users Ask Federal Courts to Improve PACER Document Access System"
TechCrunch (Washington Post): "Use RECAP To Bypass Court Document PACER Paywall"
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Comments
fed up
Aug 17, 2009 1:21 PM CST
I love PACER, it is a god send and should be implemented in every court in the nation, including county and state courts. At only 8 cents a page, from the comfort of your computer, it may be the best bargain in the entire justice system. By contrast, Florida county and state courts charge $1 per page, it requires a trip to the courthouse, waiting in line, and dealing with bureaucrats who are often annoyed with copy requests. And after 5 years of inactivity Florida clerks of court destroy the files pursuant to statute and the information is then gone forever. Heck of a system Florida.
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