Preacely v. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Background

Woodrow Preacely sued the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Investigations. The order states that the defendant’s deadline to answer or otherwise respond to the complaint was October 25, 2022.

Preacely also requested an exemption from fees charged by PACER, the federal courts’ online system for accessing case files. The court explained that some PACER access is automatically free, including access to judicial opinions, documents viewed at a courthouse public-access terminal, and electronically filed documents in a case accessed by a party. The court also stated that it may grant an additional exemption when necessary to avoid unreasonable burdens and promote public access to information.

Court’s Analysis

The court considered Preacely’s allegations that he was indigent and had a mobility impairment. It found that indigency alone generally would not be enough, but that the combination of indigency and the mobility impairment made it burdensome for him to use PACER through the courthouse terminal. The court therefore found that an exemption was necessary.

Ruling

The court ordered that Preacely be exempt from PACER fees for accessing the electronic case files maintained by the court, but only when the access was connected to research in this litigation. The exemption did not cover fees from other PACER uses. Preacely also could not sell for profit or transfer data obtained through the exemption. The exemption was valid from August 30, 2022, through August 29, 2023, and the court retained discretion to revoke it.

The court separately advised Preacely that he could apply to proceed without paying court fees or costs in advance by completing and returning the provided application to the pro se office. The order did not state that this separate application was granted. The clerk was directed to mail copies of the order to the plaintiff, the defendants, and the PACER Service Center.