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Vol. 36, Number 4—April 2004
Judicial Conference Acts on
Electronic Access
The latest step to increase Internet access to court case files topped the agenda of the Judicial Conference meeting in March.
The Conference approved implementation guidance and a model local rule that will enable U.S. district courts nationwide to provide remote electronic access to criminal case files. Software modifications are necessary before this access can be effective.
This latest action follows the Conference's decision in September 2001 to make electronic access to most civil and bankruptcy case files the same as access to paper files at the courthouse. This includes the redaction of specific personal identifiers in both the paper and electronic forms. Because of unique safety issues relating to criminal files, the Conference delayed implementation for two years and created a pilot program in 11 courts to study the potential impact of electronic access. The study found no harm from enhanced access to criminal case file documents, and in September 2003 the Judicial Conference voted to permit courts nationwide to offer remote electronic access to criminal case files, with the redaction of personal identifiers and subject to the drafting of appropriate implementation guidance for courts. The guidance and a proposed local rule can be found on the Judiciary's website, www.uscourts.gov under Newsroom/News Releases, with the news release for March 16, 2004.
Electronic case file documents may be accessed only through the federal court's Public Access to Electronic Records (PACER) program, which requires registration and issuance of a login and password. This can be done instantly at: www.pacer.psc.uscourts.gov.
In other action the Conference agreed to- seek legislation that would provide that all criminal monetary penalties be payable immediately and collected as non-dischargeable civil debts, in effect decriminalizing debt collection and applying well-established and efficient civil debt collection techniques to the collection of criminal debts. (Currently, limited tools, such as the revocation of probation or supervised release, are used to pursue restitution and fine payments.) If criminal monetary penalties were collected as civil debts, the payment of restitution and fines would be made a condition of supervision to be monitored by the probation officer with the assistance of the U.S. attorney's experienced Financial Litigation Unit. The court would retain authority over the payment of penalties and could impose sanctions for a willful failure to pay, upon the motion of the government or upon a petition from the probation officer.
- impose a moratorium on all space requests of less than $2.29 million in construction costs for one year, except requests for courtrooms, chambers, lease renewals, official parking, and recovery from natural disasters or terrorist attacks. Space rental costs for the Judiciary, which now are over $900 million annually-, have increased at an average annual rate of 6.4 percent from 1999 to 2003. A moratorium on space requests would help control space costs in the future. It would primarily affect space requests for offices, training and conference rooms, and storage space.
- invite one bankruptcy judge and one magistrate judge, selected by the Chief Justice, to attend Judicial Conference sessions in a non-voting capacity. Bankruptcy Judge A. Thomas Small (E. D. N.C.), chair of the Conference Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules, and Magistrate Judge John M. Roper, (S. D. Miss.), past president of the Federal Magistrate Judges Association, have been appointed by the Chief Justice to attend. The Long Range Plan for the Federal Courts recommends that "[t]here should be broad, meaningful participation of judges in governance at all levels." Involvement of both magistrate and bankruptcy judges in court governance activities has gradually increased at the national, regional and local levels. Attendance at Conference sessions would affirm the important roles of bankruptcy and magistrate judges in the district courts and promote judicial collegiality.
- amend the District Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule to increase the fee for attorney admission from $50 to $150. This one-time fee was last increased eight years ago in 1996 from $20 to $50. During the same time, state bar admission fees have risen substantially
Conference Recognizes 40th Anniversary of CJA
Judicial Conference of the United States, March 2004
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