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Limited free access to PACER records Aliya Sternstein, Courts offer libraries free access to e-records, Government Executive, November 20, 2007. (Thanks to ResourceShelf.) Excerpt:
Comment. This is a classic case of a half-step in the right direction. I've often called PACER --which provides case and docket information for most US federal courts-- one of the most useful US government information services that is not yet OA. So it's an important breakthrough for citizens to have any free access to PACER records at all. But PACER ought to be fully free online. Citizens shouldn't have to choose between paying an access fee and traveling to one of 16 meatspace libraries. This is taxpayer-funded information about cases and dockets in federal courts, necessary for effective participation in a federal case as a plaintiff or defendant. For these and other reasons, the American Association of Law Libraries adopted a resolution (April 2006) in support of OA to PACER records. |