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You can get most of the documents for popular cases from RECAP (mentioned in this story). RECAP has a browser extension that harvests documents when people pay

You can get most of the documents for popular cases from RECAP (mentioned in this story). RECAP has a browser extension that harvests documents when people pay for them with their own PACER accounts, and reposts them to their service [0]. A federal judge rejected the State of Washington's motion for a temporary restraining order (in a lawsuit regarding CHAZ). I was interested in the filings, so I used my PACER account to download them. Then I checked RECAP, and found they were there already. I don't think PACER requires a credit card -- my account is set up to bill me if I incur more charges than the complimentary $30/quarter. I used my PACER account to file in the Court of Appeals. It was very convenient, much easier than mailing a big envelope to their filing clerk. Attorneys are required to file in the federal courts electronically with text-searchable PDFs. Pro Se (without an attorney) filers have to ask the district court for permission to file electronically, but the Court of Appeals didn't have that bar to filing electronically. tl/dr: if you're going to file Pro-Se in federal court (bankruptcy/civil/etc), get a PACER account and sign up for electronic notification of filings. [0] https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/ https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/ and https://free.law/ https://free.law/

joncrane 6y ago
Perhaps I missed a zero, is the threshold for billing 30 or 3 dollars per quarter? (I guess viewing 30 filings vs 300?) Also I definitely gave up at the point they asked for a CC (which I didn't have handy at the time). The UX certainly led me to believe this was a required step; are you saying I could skip that step? If so, is the idea that you could theoretically rack up a lot of charges in one quarter before they cut you off for non-payment? Seems like an easy way to game the system...just sign up for a new account every quarter.
- tcj_phx 6y ago
  The billing threshold was formerly $15/quarter; now it's $30. I don't have a CC stored on my account, and have never hit the threshold for them to mail/email me a bill. I think they asked for a CC, but I saw the option for 'just bill me and I'll send a check'. > Seems like an easy way to game the system...just sign up for a new account every quarter. As I recall, they mailed me something via the USPS before my account was activated. I don't think it'd be very smart to intentionally rack up charges with the branch of government responsible for putting people in cages, and think you could just walk away from those charges.

joncrane 6y ago

Perhaps I missed a zero, is the threshold for billing 30 or 3 dollars per quarter? (I guess viewing 30 filings vs 300?) Also I definitely gave up at the point they asked for a CC (which I didn't have handy at the time). The UX certainly led me to believe this was a required step; are you saying I could skip that step? If so, is the idea that you could theoretically rack up a lot of charges in one quarter before they cut you off for non-payment? Seems like an easy way to game the system...just sign up for a new account every quarter.

tcj_phx 6y ago
The billing threshold was formerly $15/quarter; now it's $30. I don't have a CC stored on my account, and have never hit the threshold for them to mail/email me a bill. I think they asked for a CC, but I saw the option for 'just bill me and I'll send a check'. > Seems like an easy way to game the system...just sign up for a new account every quarter. As I recall, they mailed me something via the USPS before my account was activated. I don't think it'd be very smart to intentionally rack up charges with the branch of government responsible for putting people in cages, and think you could just walk away from those charges.