PACER,
the
federal
court
system’s
data
repository,
slows
to
a
crawl
mid-mornings
and
it
seems
to
be
getting
worse.
Everyone
has
experienced
it,
and
most
write
it
off
as
either
a
gremlin
or
an
unavoidable
byproduct
of
running
the
federal
judiciary
on
a
warmed
over
Geocities
page.
But
it
turns
out,
it’s
not
that
at
all!
From
Law360:
Recent
mid-morning
slowdowns
of
the
federal
courts
database
known
as
PACER
in
the
Southern
District
of
New
York
are
caused
by
a
profusion
of
data
miners
that
ply
their
trade
around
the
same
time
each
day,
a
district
official
confirmed
Tuesday.
Yes,
it’s
that
every
news
organization
and
legal
research
entity
decides
to
do
its
massive
scrape
job
at
the
exact
same
time
that
every
bleary
eyed
litigator
shows
up
to
work
and
check
their
dockets.
It’s
the
sort
of
drain
on
the
system
that
could
get
worse
if,
say,
a
moron
decided
to
put
“all
court
cases”
into
an
AI
because
he’s
tired
of
losing
real
court
cases
and
wants
to
replace
the
justice
system
with
an
algorithm.
“This
is
why
you
can’t
have
free
PACER!”
the
federal
judiciary
is
undoubtedly
saying
despite
the
fact
that
this
problem
is
happening
now
and
the
people
doing
it
will
continue
regardless
of
the
fees
associated.
Paywalling
out
normal
people
because
the
New
York
Times
causes
a
bottleneck
isn’t
a
just
strategy
for
a
public
and
transparent
justice
system.
For
years,
the
courts
used
PACER
fees
as
a
slush
fund
instead
of
making
the
comprehensive
investments
necessary
to
bring
the
site
up
to
—
I
won’t
say
the
2020s,
because
that
might
be
too
ambitious
—
at
least
the
early
aughts.
The
judiciary
fought
free
PACER
for
years,
arguing
that
opening
up
the
system
would
cost
them
$2
billion.
It
turned
out
to
be
much,
much
less.
But
PACER
needs
to
do
something.
Identifying
data
miners
and
throttling
their
accounts
until
close
of
business
in
the
United
States
could
at
least
move
the
problem
to
a
more
manageable
window.
The
Southern
District
of
New
York,
arguably
the
most
newsworthy
court
in
America
—
at
least
outside
of
Amarillo
—
is
working
with
the
Administrative
Office
of
the
U.S.
Courts
to
find
an
answer.
Until
then,
treat
this
problem
the
same
way
this
country
treats
recycling
or
power
conservation…
restrain
your
ultimately
inconsequential
use
of
the
system
as
a
purely
symbolic
gesture
while
megacorporations
continue
causing
the
problem.
It’s
Not
Your
Imagination,
SDNY
Attys:
PACER
Really
Is
Slow
[Law360]
Earlier:
Free
PACER
Would
Cost
$2B
And
Other
Completely
Made
Up
Garbage
The
Federal
Judiciary
Is
Peddling
When
Federal
Judges
Said
Free
PACER
Would
Cost
$2B,
They
Were
Completely
Full
Of
Crap
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
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if
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Joe
also
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Managing
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