Judiciary to hold Public Hearing on Internet Access to Court Documents
A public hearing will be held Friday, March 16, in Washington, D.C., on the privacy and
security implications of public access to federal court documents via the Internet.
An eight-member subcommittee will take testimony from some of the organizations and
individuals who submitted 240 comments during a three-month period (November-January) for public
commentary. Those comments are available at www.privacy.uscourts.gov.
The Subcommittee on Privacy and Electronic Access to Case Files, created by the Court
Administration and Case Management Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States, has
liaisons from four other Conference committees.
The federal judiciary's Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) project is designed
to replace aging docketing and case management systems in more than 200 bankruptcy, district and
appellate courts by 2005. It also will let courts file documents in electronic format and accept filings over
the Internet.
Case files, long presumed to be open for public inspection and copying unless sealed by
court order, often contain private or sensitive information. Bankruptcy debtors must divulge intimate details
of their financial affairs. In some courts, case files may contain medical records, personnel files, tax
returns or propriety information.
Creation of electronic files means they may be viewed, printed or downloaded by anyone, at
any time, through the Internet.
"This study involves formulation of a policy that directly implicates the interests of the
public. Potential litigants and attorneys, the media, and those who have a commercial interest in the content
of court records, for example, all have a stake in the process," said Judge John W. Lungstrum (D.
Kan.), who chairs the subcommittee.
"The Judiciary faces a sensitive and very important policy decision, and it believes that the
decision should be based on as wide ranging and open a process as possible," he said.
The four-hour hearing (8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.) will be in the Judicial Conference
Center in the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building, One Columbus Circle N.E.
Journalists who plan to attend the hearing are asked to call 202-502-2600.
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