CourtListener and RECAP: Free Federal Court Documents

Why federal court documents cost money

PACER is where court dockets and case records are accessed for a per-page fee ^[1]. PACER charges 10 cents per page for dockets, motions, orders, judgments and briefs ^[2]. A single document costs at most $3, no matter how long it is ^[2]. Audio files from court proceedings cost $2.40 each ^[2].

You are billed quarterly. You only pay if you accrue more than $30 in that quarter ^[2]. Once your bill reaches $30.01, the entire amount is billed, not just the amount over $30 ^[3]. Fees are 10 cents per page, capped at $3 per document, and billed once you pass $30 in a quarter ^[2].

Congress did not authorize funding for free electronic access to court records ^[1]. Users pay per page for dockets and case records as a result ^[1]. Those fees are at the center of the dispute in National Veterans Legal Services Program v. United States ^[1]. United States ^[1]. United States ^[1]. United States ^[1].

What PACER charges and where it is already free

Court opinions are free on PACER to anyone with an account ^[4]. But courts are wildly inconsistent about marking documents as opinions ^[3]. Many documents that should be free are not marked that way ^[3]. You may find yourself charged for something that looks like an opinion.

You can view court records at the courthouse for free ^[4]. Printing from a public access terminal costs 10 cents per page ^[4]. No fee is charged if PACER is used at a courthouse public access terminal ^[3]. Printing from that terminal costs 10 cents per page ^[4].

Courts may exempt certain people or groups from PACER fees upon request ^[2]. Eligible groups can include indigent individuals, pro bono attorneys, academic researchers and non-profit organizations ^[2]. You must request the exemption from the court. It is not automatic.

If you are a party in a case, you get one free look at each document filed in your case ^[3]. The free look applies to documents filed in the case you are a party to ^[3]. The free look covers each document once.

What CourtListener and the RECAP Archive are

The RECAP Archive is a searchable collection of millions of PACER documents gathered by users of the RECAP browser extension ^[5]. The archive also includes every free PACER filing ^[5]. The archive was created by users of the RECAP Extensions and also includes every free PACER filing ^[5].

Everything in the archive is full-text searchable ^[6]. This includes millions of pages that were originally scanned PDFs ^[6]. The archive is fully text-searchable, including pages that were originally scanned PDFs ^[6].

You can create a number of alerts for free on CourtListener ^[6]. Install the RECAP extension and you get even more ^[6].

Step by step: search the RECAP Archive

Go to courtlistener.com/recap. Enter a case number, party name or keyword. Use the filter to show only results with PDFs ^[5].

Start here before you spend any money on PACER. The archive contains tens of millions of documents ^[6]. Anything another user has added is available to you free through the RECAP extension ^[6]. The extension checks whether the archive already has a document before you spend money on it ^[7].

Video from Free Law Project (YouTube). Open at youtube.com. Content from youtube.com loads only if you click.

This video walks you through searching and downloading filings from the RECAP Archive.

Step by step: install the RECAP extension

The RECAP Extensions are available for Firefox, Chrome and Safari ^[5]. Once installed, it works while you browse PACER. When you buy a document on PACER, the extension uploads it to the archive automatically ^[6].

Before you spend money, the extension checks if someone else already added that document ^[7]. If they did, you get it free right inside PACER ^[6]. Anything another user has added to the archive is available to you at no cost ^[6]. The extension only works on the PACER and CourtListener websites ^[6]. Free Law Project says the extension only accesses the PACER and CourtListener websites and does not track you ^[6].

You still pay PACER directly for every download you make ^[7]. The extension does not bypass PACER fees. It checks whether the archive already has a document before you spend money on it ^[7]. A PACER account gives you no special access to restricted records through RECAP ^[7]. You will still have to pay your PACER bill when it comes ^[8].

Installing the extension also gives you bonus docket alerts on CourtListener. You get 5 free alerts without it, with a bonus of 10 if you install the RECAP extension ^[9].

Follow a case: docket alerts and RSS feeds

CourtListener lets you create docket alerts for federal cases and bankruptcies ^[9]. You get 5 free alerts. If you install the RECAP extension, you get a bonus of 10 more ^[9]. Set alerts for the cases you cover regularly.

Some federal courts provide RSS feeds of their latest filings ^[10]. You can subscribe to these feeds as another way to follow a case ^[1]. Many courts have enabled them on their individual PACER systems ^[1]. Not every court provides RSS feeds, so coverage is incomplete ^[9]. For less active cases, alerts may be slower or may not arrive if the Free Law Project has no source of new information for that case ^[9].

You can also use CourtListener's API to get notifications when specific documents are added ^[8]. Standard users have a daily quota for these requests ^[8]. Once a request is granted and the document becomes available, it cannot be deleted ^[8].

If you are not sure which federal court has a case, use the PACER Case Locator ^[4].

Video from Free Law Project (YouTube). Open at youtube.com. Content from youtube.com loads only if you click.

This video shows how to set up RECAP search alerts for new federal filings.

Limits: what will not be there

Several things will not show up in CourtListener or the RECAP Archive. Most federal cases created before 1999 are kept only on paper ^[4]. Because most are kept on paper only, older cases may not be found through PACER ^[4]. Records at the court site can be viewed at the courthouse for free ^[4].

Judges can seal documents or close hearings in certain circumstances ^[10]. When a party moves to seal a document, a record of that motion generally appears on the PACER docket ^[10]. Sealed filings may be unavailable for purchase on PACER ^[8]. Sealed filings and delayed transcripts may be unavailable for purchase on PACER ^[8]. When sealed documents are uploaded in error, the Free Law Project works with courts and parties to clean them up ^[7].

Federal rules require anyone filing a federal court document to redact certain personal information ^[10]. Some details are absent even in public filings as a result.

The media have no right of access to discovery materials not filed with the court ^[10].

The federal courts publish a journalist's guide to accessing court documents ^[10].

Copyright and privacy

Court-created documents on PACER are works of the federal government ^[7]. Free Law Project says court-created documents are works of the federal government, in the public domain, and may be shared without legal restriction ^[7].

The Free Law Project says it rapidly works with courts, parties and users when documents are uploaded that should have been sealed ^[7]. These mistakes happen.

You can disable uploads in the RECAP preferences if you prefer ^[7]. If you log in with a PACER account through RECAP, you get no special access in the system ^[7]. Logging in with a PACER account gives you no special access in the system ^[7]. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press states that a completely free electronic court records system would be preferable ^[1].

Quick checklist for reporters on a budget

1. Search the RECAP Archive first at courtlistener.com/recap before using PACER.
2. Install the RECAP extension before you use PACER. Documents others already added are available free inside PACER with the extension ^[6].
3. Search PACER by case number, not party name, to go straight to the case without a search charge ^[2].
4. Download court opinions when possible. Court opinions are free on PACER to anyone with an account, though some may not be marked as opinions ^[4][3].
5. Set up docket alerts on CourtListener for active cases you follow.
6. Use the PACER Case Locator if you are not sure which court has the case ^[4].
7. Most pre-1999 cases are paper only ^[4], and records kept at the court site can be viewed at the courthouse for free ^[4].
8. No fee is charged to use PACER at a courthouse terminal, though printing costs 10 cents per page ^[3][4].

The federal courts' journalist guide says reporters who cover courts should consider establishing a PACER account and becoming familiar with the system ^[10]. If you need a way to document your work as an independent journalist, you can start a free NPA membership application, since NPA membership is free to apply. The NPA credential is a private association credential, and the credentials guide for working reporters explains it.