UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
IN RE: APPLICATION FOR EXEMPTION Administrative Order
FROM THE ELECTRONIC PUBLIC No. 21-MS-061
ACCESS FEES BY CASEY DOUGAL
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This matter is before the Court upon the application and request by Casey Dougal
for exemption from the fees imposed by the Electronic Public Access fee schedule
adopted by the Judicial Conference of the United States Courts.
The Court finds that Casey Dougal, an assistant professor at Florida State
University, falls within the class of users listed in the fee schedule as being eligible for a
fee exemption. Additionally, Dougal has demonstrated that an exemption is necessary in
order to avoid unreasonable burdens and to promote public access to information.
Accordingly, Dougal shall be exempt from the payment of fees for access via
PACER to the electronic case files maintained in this Court, to the extent such use is
incurred in the course of researching data to classify federal civil rights cases where a
public corporation is a defendant into those that claim harassment as the primary
complaint (i.e., racial, sexual, or otherwise) and those which do not. Dougal has
narrowed the scope of his research to 59,722 federal court cases and is seeking access
to only the plaintiffs’ first complaint in each case. Dougal’s goal from this research is to
publish a scholarly paper analyzing whether claimed discrimination in public corporations
is driven by firm culture or profit-maximizing behavior.
Dougal shall not be exempt from the payment of fees incurred in connection with
other uses of the PACER system in this Court. Additionally, the following limitations apply:
1. This fee exemption applies only to Dougal (PACER Account # 6876273),
and is valid only for the purposes stated above;
2. This fee exemption applies only to the electronic case files of this Court that
are available through the PACER system;
3. By accepting this exemption, Dougal agrees not to sell for profit any data
obtained as a result of receiving this exemption;
4. Dougal is prohibited from transferring any data obtained as a result of
receiving this exemption, including redistribution via internet-based
databases;
5. This exemption is valid until August 31, 2022.
This Order 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.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
FOR THE COURT:
Dated: September 9, 2021
ROBERT J. JONKER
CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
