Lieberman Grills Federal Judiciary About Pacer

This article from the National Law Journal discusses Senator Joseph Lieberman's questioning the Rules Committee of the Judicial Conference about why "it continues to charge the public and lawyers for access to electronically filed documents and whether enough is being done to protect the personal data collected by courts." The cost issue was discussed in an earlier blog post on OOTJ. Lieberman made the point that "the federal judiciary had a $150 million surplus in its technology fund as of fiscal year 2006 yet continues to charge the public and lawyers $.08 per page for access to documents." He is also concerned about the possibility of identify theft, stating that "not enough has been done to protect personal information contained in publicy available court rulings ... I would like to the court to review the steps they take to ensure this information is protected and report ... on how this provision has been implemented as we work to increase public access to court records." The Judicial Conference has not yet responded to Senator Lieberman.