Opinion
No. C 11-4577 CW., (Docket Nos. 20 and, 21).
November 23, 2011.
ORDER GRANTING REQUEST TO E-FILE AND DENYING PERMISSION TO BE EXCUSED FROM PAYING PACER FEES AND REQUEST THAT THE MOTION FOR PERMISSION TO BE EXCUSED FROM PAYING PACER FEES BE PLACED UNDER SEAL
Defendant James D. Crombie seeks the Court's leave to participate in Electronic Case Filing (ECF) and to be excused from paying the fees for accessing documents through the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) service. He asks that his motion requesting permission to be excused from PACER fees be sealed. Plaintiff United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission has filed a notice of non-opposition to Defendant Crombie's motions.
Defendant Crombie has filed a statement affirming that he has reviewed the requirements for e-filing and that he agrees to abide by them. He also states that he understands that, once he registers for e-filing, he will receive notices and documents only by email and not by regular mail. He further states that he has regular access to the technical requirements necessary to e-file successfully.
Defendant Crombie has filed copies of bank statements in a single document with his motion seeking permission to be excused from PACER fees and asks that the bank statements be placed under seal. Because Defendant has filed this document in the public record, Court staff has placed a temporary "lock" on the motion to temporarily restrict access.
Civil Local Rule 79-5 provides that, when a party seeks permission to file a document under seal, the party must file an administrative motion seeking leave to file under seal, accompanied by a sworn declaration demonstrating with particularity the need to file each document under seal. See Civil Local Rule 79-5(a). At that time, the party should not file in the public record the document that he seeks to file under seal, but instead should separately lodge with the Clerk two sealed envelopes each containing copies of the documents. See Civil Local Rule 79-5(b).
Defendant Crombie has stated in his motion that the information he seeks to seal is private and personal, but has not supported his request with a sworn declaration that states with particularity the reasons that justify filing these documents under seal.
Defendant Crombie states that he does not have the ability to pay the fees associated with accessing and filing with PACER. Electronic filings are made through the ECF system, not the PACER system. There is no fee associated with the filing aspect of the ECF system. The PACER system allows users to retrieve case and docket information, including electronic copies of documents filed. As stated in the "Frequently Asked Questions" for the PACER and ECF systems, which can be accessed at http://www.pacer.gov/psc/faq.html, PACER charges $0.08 per page retrieved. The charge for any single document is capped at $2.40, the equivalent of 30 pages. If a total of less than $10.00 worth of charges is accrued in any given quarter, fees are waived for that quarter. Attorneys of record and parties in a case (including pro se litigants) receive one free electronic copy of all documents filed electronically, if receipt is required by law or directed by the filer. To avoid later charges, a copy of each document can be downloaded and saved during this first viewing. However, if the document is a transcript, the free copy and thirty page fee cap do not apply.
Accordingly, the Court GRANTS Defendant Crombie's request to participate in the ECF system (Docket No. 20) and DENIES Defendant Crombie's request to be excused from all PACER fees (Docket No. 21). Further, the Court STRIKES the bank statements that Defendant Crombie attached to his motion to be excused from PACER fees and directs the Clerk to remove these documents from the public record.
IT IS SO ORDERED.