Memo to Steve Strasser's class: I spaced out!
I know there are a few questions I’m supposed to be answering about research sources, but one of them I can address right now. I can’t believe I forgot it during class because I use this resource all the time! Yes, there is a federal equivalent to the New York WebCrims database we reviewed this morning. In fact, it’s much better than equivalent because in addition to docket info, it also includes scanned documents filed in the cases, and goes back many years. It’s called PACER, short for Public Access to Court Electronic Records. The only thing is, you must register for this, and there’s a nominal printing fee per page of results and documents (8 cents a page, with a max of $2.40 no matter how big the document). It includes civil cases too, but actually, the New York site does that as well. I just showed you the WebCrims criminal court database specifically because this morning’s lesson was about cops and crime.
So I’ll stick to the excuse that I hadn’t prepared for court questions and PACER is so darn good I don’t even think of it as the federal “peer” to WebCrims. Yeah, that’s the ticket.