Federal Circuit Upholds Lower Court in Pacer Fees Litigation

A lower court "got it just right" in its interpretation of federal statute allowing the federal judiciary to charge reasonable Pacer fees, a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit panel ordered Thursday, rejecting interlocutory cross-appeals by plaintiff-appellants National Veterans Legal Services Program, National Consumer Law Center and Alliance for Justice and by DOJ. The ruling (docket 19-1081) by Judges Todd Hughes, Alan Lourie and Raymond Clevenger, penned by Hughes, rejected the government's argument for vacating the lower court's summary judgment order because of a lack of jurisdiction under the Little Tucker Act. And it rejected both sides' read of statutory limits on Pacer fees and concurred with the lower court interpretation that the Pacer fees are limited to the amount needed to cover expenses incurred in services providing public access to federal court electronic docketing information. It remanded the case to U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Counsel for the plaintiff-appellants didn't comment. Oral argument was in February (see 2002030021).