Court Files Could Be Available Online

By: Todd Shields U.S. courts should bar remote electronic access to criminal case files, but allow such access for civil and bankruptcy files that are stripped of some identifying information, a group of federal judges recommended Wednesday.

The unanimous recommendation from a 14-judge committee is to be taken up Sept. 11 by the Judicial Conference of the United States, which sets policy for federal courts.

The judiciary is seeking to balance traditions of openness with fears of privacy violations as the Internet raises the possibility that anybody can rummage through court files using a remote computer.

Media groups in testimony offered this spring urged that electronic access be equal to the access possible at courthouses. They said any needed exceptions could be crafted on a case-by-case basis as parties ask judges to seal records.

Privacy advocates said information gathered remotely and with ease could be used to intimidate or embarrass witnesses, litigants, and others involved with the courts.

In a report released Wednesday, the recommending judges said they feared harassment for witnesses in criminal cases. For instance, the judges said, files could detail how some defendants earn a lesser sentence by helping prosecutors. "Such information could then be very easily used to intimidate, harass, and possibly harm victims, defendants and their families," the judges said.

Bankruptcy and civil case files should generally be available electronically as they are at the courthouse, but personal identifiers such as Social Security numbers, birth dates, and bank account numbers should not be transmitted, the judges said. They called for denying remote electronic access for Social Security cases, which often contain abundant details of medical treatment and usually revolve around whether benefits are due a person.

Under the recommendation, PACERNet still would offer electronic access to docket sheets. The availability of case files at courthouses would not be affected.