All Requested Judicial Branch Documents
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245Votes
Opinions of the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel
The Office of Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice issues memoranda that assess whether activities of agencies of the federal government comply with the law and the U.S. Constitution. Its opinions can effectively authorize or prohibit conduct that is at the legal boundary. A number of its interpretations of the Bush Administration’s warrantless surveillance program, and of the applicability of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, have been kept secret from the public and even from Congress. While some facts surrounding such surveillance are necessarily classified, the government’s interpretation of the law should most definitely be public. The OLC’s opinions on intelligence surveillance should be made public with appropriate redactions to protect classified information.
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128Votes
PACER Online System
Taken from http://pacer.uscourts.gov/pacerdesc.html Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) is an electronic public access service that allows users to obtain case and docket information from Federal Appellate, District and Bankruptcy courts, and the U.S. Party/Case Index via the Internet. Links to all courts are provided from this web site. Electronic access is available by registering with the PACER Service Center, the judiciary's centralized registration, billing, and technical support center.
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49Votes
Supreme Court website
Has anyone visited the Supreme Court website recently? http://www.supremecourtus.gov/ The website is a bit dated to say the least. If you search Roe vs. Wade or just about any other major ruling, the search comes back with no results. If this is the highest court in the US, they need to have a website that can offer the highest quality of searches for court decisions. Third party websites such as FindLaw are putting the Supreme Court site to shame.
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22Votes
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18Votes
Federal court press releases
The legislative and executive branches have numerous websites dedicated to managing press, but the judicial branch does not. Just try search "judicial press" on www.us.gov
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16Votes
Court judgments involving government agencies
Most cases settle, and settlements are nearly invisible. But when a U.S. District Court enters a judgment--including by settlement--against a government agency, that's a matter that should be disclosed to the public, without any special request.
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14Votes
FOIA Requests, ask for agencies to release information about requests
Although agencies are required to create ‘reading rooms’ with information that is commonly requested through the Freedom of Information Act, they do not publish their records on FOIA requests. FOIA request records could be useful for journalists, or for others who are interested in information but haven’t thought to request these records. In fact, records of FOIA requests are FOIA-able, but it takes a long time to get these records. Agencies should be required to proactively provide them.
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12Votes
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9Votes
federal court dockets
Federal court dockets are currently available through WebPACERfor registerd, fee-paying users. The fee-based system makes this information inaccessible to the public. Even if the documents are not provided for free, the dockets should be made available, especially bankruptcy court dockets so potential creditors can see if a company has filed so the creditor can provide a proof of claim.
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9Votes
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4Votes