Opinion
3:20-cv-1314-DNF
09-20-2021
FRED PENNINGTON BROOKS, III, Plaintiff, v. COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, Defendant.
ORDER
DOUGLAS N. FRAZIER, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
This matter is before the Court on the Request for Access to PACER (Doc. 28) filed on September 13, 2021. Pro Se Plaintiff Fred Pennington Brooks III requests access through PACER to the documents filed in his case. He claims that because of his disability and complications from surgery, he cannot sit in a chair for any length of time. He also claims to have bad eyesight and the small text and voluminous documents are difficult for him to see, which affects his concentration. (Doc. 28, p. 1). Mr. Brooks obtained a PACER account to view the documents in this case on his computer, but he was unable to access them. Plaintiff seeks computer access through PACER to see the documents filed and also requests that PACER fees be waived.
To be able to access the filed documents in this case only, Plaintiff must be granted limited access to the Court's electronic filing system, CM/ECF. To facilitate this, Plaintiff's PACER account needs to be linked to a CM/ECF account, which will then allow him computer access to the documents filed in this case only. The Court finds good cause to allow Mr. Brooks computer access for the limited purpose of viewing documents in this case only. The Court will require a CM/ECF Administrator or staff to reach out to Mr. Brooks to assist him with obtaining CM/ECF access for the limited purpose of viewing documents in this specific case on PACER.
The Court also finds based on Mr. Brooks' Application to Proceed in District Court Without Prepaying Fees or Costs (Doc. 6) and the length of the Social Security Transcript of the Administrative Proceedings (Doc. 17) of over 1000 pages, Mr. Brooks qualifies for an exemption from PACER fees and the Court will allow him to proceed on PACER without payment of fees.
Accordingly, it is ORDERED:
(1) The Request for Access to PACER (Doc. 28) is GRANTED to the extent that Mr. Brooks is permitted to obtain limited CM/ECF access to documents in this case only, which will then allow a CM/ECF Administrator to link this limited CM/ECF access to Mr. Brook's PACER account to allow him to view documents in this case only on his computer.
(2) The Request for Exemption (Doc. 28) is GRANTED and Mr. Brooks is exempted from paying PACER fees in this case only.
(3) The Clerk of Court is directed to email this Order to the CM/ECF Administrator and PACER.
DONE and ORDERED