All:
Back in August of 1996 (last year!!!) I promised to summarize what I
found out about PACER. Since then I have changed e-mail accounts and
lost most of what I was going to summarize, but it basically came
down to this: don't use PACER, use Courtlink:
http://www.courtlink.com/index.htm
Hope the messages I was able to find are still helpful,
Kelly
> Date: Tue, 06 Aug 1996 08:57:24 -0700
> From: Ken Kozlowski <kkoz@clelaw.lib.oh.us>
> To: browne@utkux.utcc.utk.edu
> Subject: Pacer
> Kelly - I too, had problems with PACER (now only 60 cents per
> minute) until I subscribed to a service called Courtlink. I now no
> longer have to subscribe to individual courts. I use Courtlink's
> front end to search any court that I need. The cost is a bit
> higher, but worth it. It always seemed that the court I needed was
> no longer accessible to me because the six months had passed. If
> you would like me to do a search for you, please let me know. I can
> be reached at 216-851-5070, or via the e-mail address below.
>
> Ken
>
>
> --
> Ken Kozlowski
> Public Services Librarian
> Cleveland Law Library Association
> kkoz@clelaw.lib.oh.us
>
Date sent: Tue, 6 Aug 1996 11:15:01 -0700 (PDT)
From: Marilyn Willats <pmsmbw@netcom.com>
Subject: PACER acess
To: browne@utkux.utcc.utk.edu
Hi Kelly....You've probably already learned of this from other people
- but just in cases you haven't, there is a commercial service called
CourtLink which provides access to all the courts on PACER. It's a
great service - works really well - and they take care of the access
problems to the individual courts, so you don't get bumped off. Our
"docket sheet" lives have been transformed since we signed on with
CourtLink. They can be reached at:
(800) 774-7317 or (206) 450-0390
Marilyn
Marilyn Willats (415) 983-1749
Pillsbury Madison & Sutro Library
pmsmbw@netcom.com
> Date: Tue, 6 Aug 1996 08:19:55 -0700 (PDT)
> Reply-to: henexson@CLASS.ORG
> From: Fay Henexson <henexson@CLASS.ORG>
> To: Kelly Browne <browne@utkux.utcc.utk.edu>
> Subject: Re: Cen. Dist. Cal. Pacer Access?
> Some additional info on PACER that may be of interest:
>
> see the federal courts home page for up-to-the-minute info
>
> http://www.uscourts.gov/PubAccess.html
>
> but as of June 1, the following info was true: Effective April 1 the user
> fee is reduced to $.60 per minute. To set up an account call a real live
> person at 800-676-6856. Registered users can then contact the
> centralized registration & billing BBS at 800-214-0847 and for no charge
> register for additional courts. So even though each court maintains its
> own separate BBS, accounts & registration are centralized so signing up
> is not quite as complicated.
>
> M.F.Henexson
> Calif. Dept. of Justice Library
>
> On Tue, 6 Aug 1996, Kelly Browne wrote:
>
> > All:
> >
> > A clinic prof here called me at 5:30 EST Friday, wanting to find out about
> > a federal criminal case pending in the Central Distric of Cal.--the docket
> > number is SACV-90-526-GLT. He said he called the court, but they said
> > that they couldn't tell him anything over the phone-- the records were
> > available only on PACER. We, being an academic law library, don't have
> > access to PACER. Anyway, the prof said that they didn't get notice of
> > some rulings, and spent lots of time responding to motions that had
> > already been decided, etc. All he wants to know is what's going on in this
> > case. The prof is leaving town Wed. a.m. and needs an answer by
> > Tues. afternoon--today!
> >
> > I spent some time searching the Internet and Westlaw/Lexis and
> > couldn't find anything--Lexis has the civil, but not criminal, CDC
> > dockets (thank you for this info, Don Buffaloe!). This is very
> > frustrating for me--I can't believe this is a public record and
> > I can't get a hold of it!
> >
> > Thanks to Michael Saint-Onge, I learned the following yesterday:
> >
> > "I am a registered PACER user, but for some reason unknown to anyone who
> > has ever used the system, you must register separately for each court.
> > Go figure. To further complicate things, if you don't access that court
> > in 6 months, you are dropped and have to re-register. I WAS registered
> > for the Central District of California, but alas I am no longer official
> > since I last used it in January. I re-registered today, but it takes 3-5
> > days to process. Isn't that the silliest thing you've ever heard?
> > How many attorneys do you know that can wait 3-5 days for anything?
> >
> > If you can find someone who *is* registered, however, it is extremely
> > easy to use. Just plug in the docket number and voila, you have the
> > entire docket sheet at your disposal. The cost is $.75 a minute, but it
> > usually only takes 3 minutes or so, so the cost is minimal."
> >
> > So...can anyone help me? If not, I'm still glad I sent this message--
> > like Michael, "I will continue to complain, cajole and kvetch about
> > PACER and its stupid procedures. Someday we'll enter the 20th century..."
> >
> > Thanks in advance for any help and thanks to everyone who has already
> > tried to help me with this problem (and thanks for just listening),
> >
> > Kelly
> >
> >
> >
>
Kelly Browne, browne@libra.law.utk.edu
Assistant Professor/Reference Librarian
University of Tennessee College of Law Library
Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
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