Are PACER Charges Illegally High?

The cost of accessing court documents through the online PACER system is illegally high, a pair of liberal advocacy organizations claim in a lawsuit against the federal judiciary. The National Consumer Law Center and the Alliance for Justice accuse the agency of “thwarting equal access” to justice and violating Congressional limits on how much it can charge. PACER charges 10 cents a page, with a cap of $3 per document, but transcript and docket activity sheet costs aren’t capped. The lawsuit claims that PACER fees are being used to cover unrelated projects, “ranging from audio systems to flat screens for jurors,” in violation of the Congressional mandate that “reasonable” fees be charged “only to the extent necessary.”