UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
IN RE: APPLICATION FOR EXEMPTION Administrative Order
FROM THE ELECTRONIC PUBLIC No. 20-MS-090
ACCESS FEES BY REBECCA FORDON
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This matter is before the Court upon the application and request by Rebecca
Fordon 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 Rebecca Fordon, a law librarian at UCLA Law School, falls within
the class of users listed in the fee schedule as being eligible for a fee exemption.
Additionally, Fordon has demonstrated that an exemption is necessary in order to avoid
unreasonable burdens and to promote public access to information.
Accordingly, Fordon 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 the answer times in Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) cases. Specifically, Fordon anticipates accessing approximately 1750 FOIA
cases nationwide that were filed in 2018 and 2019. She will use this information to inform
the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules, which is contemplating an amendment to Rule
12(a) to account for statutory reductions in the time to answer civil complaints.
Fordon 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 Fordon (PACER Account # 6594516),
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, Fordon agrees not to sell for profit any data
obtained as a result of receiving this exemption;
4. Fordon 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 November 30, 2021.
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: December 8, 2020
ROBERT J. JONKER
CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
