NATIONAL VETERANS LEGAL SERVICES PROGRAM et al v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Filing 52

MOTION for Summary Judgment as to Liability by ALLIANCE FOR JUSTICE, NATIONAL CONSUMER LAW CENTER, NATIONAL VETERANS LEGAL SERVICES PROGRAM (Attachments: #1 Declaration Declaration of Jonathan Taylor, #2 Exhibit Exhibit A, #3 Exhibit Exhibit B, #4 Exhibit Exhibit C, #5 Exhibit Exhibit D, #6 Exhibit Exhibit E, #7 Exhibit Exhibit F, #8 Exhibit Exhibit G, #9 Exhibit Exhibit H, #10 Exhibit Exhibit I, #11 Exhibit Exhibit J, #12 Exhibit Exhibit K, #13 Exhibit Exhibit L, #14 Exhibit Exhibit M, #15 Declaration Declaration of Thomas Lee and Michael Lissner, #16 Statement of Facts Plaintiffs' Statement of Undisputed Material Facts)(Gupta, Deepak)

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EXHIBIT C

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Chronology of the Federal Judiciary’s
Electronic Public Access (EPA) Program
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1989 Federal Judicial Center initiated pilot programs to provide Public Access to Court
Electronic Records (PACER) systems in several bankruptcy and district courts.

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1990 Judicial Conference directed by Congress to prescribe reasonable fees for public access
to electronic information, to be deposited into a special fund for information technology
projects. The initial fee for public access, via a dial-in bulletin board service, was set at $1/
minute.

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1992 PACER expanded to additional district and bankruptcy courts.

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1995 Fee reduced to 75 cents per minute.

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1996 Fee reduced to 60 cents per minute.

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1997 National locator index added.

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1998 As the judiciary began development of the new Case Management/Electronic Case
Files (CM/ECF) system, which allows courts to maintain complete electronic case files, a web
interface was created for PACER, and the Judicial Conference prescribed a 7 cents per page
fee for Internet access to documents from the case file. The Conference also stated that courts
could make certain items, such as local rules and forms, opinions and other local information
available at no cost.

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2001 As deployment of CM/ECF continued, the Judicial Conference approved two new
provisions:
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1. Attorneys of record and parties in a case receive one free electronic copy of all
documents filed electronically, if receipt is required by law or directed by the filer.
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2. No fee is owed until charges of more than $10 in a calendar year are accrued.

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2002 Judicial Conference approved a 30 page cap on per-document charges ($2.10)

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2003 The Judicial Conference made several changes to the fee structure, most notably:
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1. Judicial Conference extended the $2.10 cap, the equivalent of 30 pages, to all case
documents, including docket sheets and case-specific reports, with the exception of
transcripts of federal court proceedings.

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2. The Judicial Conference also addressed the issue of exemptions– specifying the
individuals and groups whom courts may exempt, upon a showing of cause, including
indigents, bankruptcy case trustees, individual researchers associated with educational
institutions, courts, section 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organizations and pro bono ADR
neutrals from payment of the fees.
3. The Judicial Conference further directs that courts should not exempt local, state or
federal government agencies, members of the media, attorneys or others who are not
members of the groups specified above, prohibits courts from using the exemption
language from exempting all users, and dictates that exemptions apply only to access for
the specific case or purpose for which it was given.

2004 The Judicial Conference amended Item I of the Electronic Public Access Fee Schedule
to increase the fee for public users obtaining information through a federal judiciary
Internet site from seven cents per page to eight cents per page, effective January 1,
2005.

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