Opinion
3:18-MC-12
12-18-2023
IN RE APPLICATION FOR EXEMPTION FROM THE ELECTRONIC PUBLIC ACCESS FEES BY ARIANA ZIMMERMANNS
ORDER GRANTING LIMITED EXEMPTION
DEBRA M. BROWN CHIEF DISTRICT JUDGE
Ariana Zimmermanns seeks an exemption from the fees imposed by the Electronic Public Access fee schedule adopted by the Judicial Conference of the United States Courts to obtain case information from the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (“PACER”) service. According to a letter from Kai Lindenberg, a professor of criminal law and criminal procedure at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, Zimmermanns, under Lindenberg's supervision, is a Ph.D. student writing her dissertation in criminal law and is conducting research on “developments in substantive law and sentencing regarding cases of terrorism-related charges against IS-affiliated women in the United States of America and Germany respectively.” Zimmermanns' research and request for exemption are limited to thirteen cases, only one of which is in the Northern District of Mississippi. The PACER exemption the Court previously granted Zimmermanns for such research expired January 23, 2023. Doc. #49. Zimmermanns now requests such PACER exemption be granted through August 31, 2027.
Because the Court concludes that Zimmermanns, an individual researcher associated with an educational institution, falls within the class of users listed in the fee schedule as being eligible for a fee exemption and that Zimmermanns has demonstrated an exemption is necessary to avoid unreasonable burdens and to promote public access to information, Zimmermanns shall be exempt from the payment of fees for access through PACER to the electronic case files maintained in this Court but only to the extent such use is incurred in the course of conducting the research described above. Zimmermanns shall not be exempt from the payment of fees incurred in connection with other uses of the PACER system in this Court. Accordingly, the following limitations apply:
Zimmermanns shall not have access to any documents that are filed with restricted access or under seal.
1. This fee exemption applies only to Zimmermanns, PACER Account #7294164, and is valid only for the purposes stated above;
2. This fee exemption applies only to the electronic case files of this Court available through the PACER system;
3. By accepting this exemption, Zimmermanns agrees not to sell for profit any data obtained as a result of receiving this exemption;
4. Zimmermanns is prohibited from transferring any data obtained as a result of receiving this exemption, including redistribution through internet-based databases; and
5. This exemption is valid from the date of this order through August 31, 2027. This exemption may be revoked at the discretion of the Court at any time. A copy of this order shall be sent to the PACER Service Center.
SO ORDERED.