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Electronic Public Access User Group Conference Call

July 21, 2021

Electronic Public Access (EPA) Public User Group Members Present:

Christopher Allman Assistant U.S. Attorney, Kansas, Department of Justice 

Adam Angione Midwest and Northeast Bureau Chief, Courthouse News Service 

JoAnn DiSanti Associate Director of Managing Clerks, White & Case LLP 

Nicholas Goldrosen Student, Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge

Todd Higey Representative, National Association of Professional Background 

Screeners 

Seamus Hughes Deputy Director, Program on Extremism, George Washington University 

Margo Kirchner General Counsel and Development Director, Wisconsin Justice Initiative 

Tyler Mills Team Lead, Bloomberg Law 

Robert Patrick Reporter, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Theresa Reiss Law Librarian, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress 

Gabriella Sarnoff Assistant Managing Attorney, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP 

Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AO)

Aicha Campbell Program Analyst, National Programs Branch, Court Services Office

Angela Jaffee Chief, National Programs Branch, Court Services Office

Chris Vagner Group Chair and Chief, Programs Division, Court Services Office

Dena Eaton Chief, CM/ECF Division, Case Management Systems Office

Emily Poland Public Affairs Specialist, Office of Public Affairs

Eva Roeber Clerk of Court, District of Nebraska

Jane MacCracken Deputy Chief, Court Services Office 

Jason Edwards Chief, Court Services Office

John Pike CM/ECF Chief Engineer, CM/ECF Division, Case Management Systems 

Office

Julie Neville Attorney Advisor, National Programs Branch, Court Services Office

Linda Melchor Program Analyst, National Programs Branch, Court Services Office 

Michelle Gardner Attorney Advisor, National Programs Branch, Court Services Office

Roy Varghese Chief, Case Management Systems Office

Stephanie O’Banion Senior Attorney, Court Policy Staff, Court Services Office

Conference Call Summary

Welcome from Jason Edwards, Chief, Court Services Office, and Jane MacCracken, Deputy 

Chief, Court Services Office. Introduction of Chris Vagner, newly appointed Programs Division 

Chief, Court Services Office.
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Update on AO Activities, including Highly Sensitive Documents

The AO’s Electronic Public Access Program is pleased to announce Christopher Vagner’s 

appointment as the Programs Division Chief.

The judiciary continues to ensure the protection of Highly Sensitive Documents (HSDs) in the 

wake of the Solar Winds breach. Some members felt that court HSD policies were resulting in 

an over-sealing of documents that would have traditionally available to the public. However, 

preliminary data from courts suggest that parties in civil cases are not requesting HSD 

designation (which results in sealing) in significant numbers. Courts have been encouraged to

carefully balance public access and safety considerations when determining whether to 

designate a filing as an HSD. 

EPA Services Assessment Update

Group members tested and provided feedback on the EPA Services Assessment Survey before it 

was administered to 15,000 PACER users in June 2021. The survey was still being fielded at the 

time of the Group’s call, and closed on July 22, 2021. Survey results will be shared with he 

Group at their next meeting.

Refining Search by Judge Requirements

The AO will move forward with providing the public the ability to search by judge in CM/ECF. 

Members requested that the new search functionality:

- be included in PACER Case Locator;

- work in conjunction with existing search functionality (such as nature of suit code);

- allow additional ways to narrow searches, such as unique identifiers for judges with 

similar names; and 

- include additional result data, such as a judges’ role(s) in cases they are associated with. 

Members will seek feedback from the users they represent to identify additional features to 

include in this functionality.

This request will now be assigned to an AO development team to conduct a full technical 

analysis, and this Group’s current and future feedback will be included in that analysis.

Status of Public User Group Recommendations 

The following Public User Group recommendations have been completed:

• New Pro Se User Page on PACER.gov has been released that makes it easier for the 

public to understand how to access and use PACER.

• PACER Case Locator now has “coverage dates” available by court that indicates the date 

range of cases that users can find when searching that court’s system.
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• Enhanced Case Title and Party Name fields in PACER Case Locator that allow the public 

to search using one character in combination with a wildcard character.

• Encouraging court use of RSS feeds. The AO has conducted outreach to courts to help 

them overcome obstacles with, and raise awareness of the public access benefits of, 

using RSS feeds more fully. 

The following Public User Group recommendations are in progress:

• Using iPads to view PDFs. Issues with viewing PDFs on iPads (for District CM/ECF) will be 

resolved in NextGen Release 1.7 (scheduled for Fall 2021).

• Ability to select which case documents to view or download is scheduled for NextGen 

Release 1.8.

• Ability to view or download all documents in a case with one click of a button is 

scheduled for NextGen Release 1.8.

• Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for PACER Case Locator (PCL) and 

Authentication.

The following Public User Group recommendations have been deemed not feasible in the 

current CM/ECF and PACER ecosystem:

• Making additional data (e.g., date of birth) available in CM/ECF to identify individuals;

• Improving naming conventions (e.g., standardizing use of abbreviations, etc.);

• Adding document number to file and document name; and

• Docketing exhibits in all courts.

The Group’s remaining recommendations require additional analysis.

Update on PACER Website Project

The Group was briefed on data and performance metrics from the new PACER website, which 

was launched in June 2020. 

Alternative Pay.gov Workflow for NextGen CM/ECF

The Group was briefed on upcoming changes to the Pay.gov workflow in NextGen CM/ECF. 

Several courts have reported issues with duplicate payments or dropped processes while 

making a payment in NextGen CM/ECF. A root cause analysis revealed a need to redesign the 

pay.gov workflow in NextGen CM/ECF to improve performance and maintain data integrity.

Once changes have been made to the workflow, PACER will no longer store saved credit card 

information. Instead, each court will have the option to turn on the “Digital Wallet” feature, 
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which will allow users to pay via PayPal or Amazon Pay; store multiple credit cards; and save 

credit card information without the need to log into PACER a second time to pay.

CM/ECF Modernization Efforts

The AO has been working with 18F to assess legacy and NextGen CM/ECF. 18F is a technology 

consultancy within the General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service that 

specializes in helping federal agencies successfully deliver modern, efficient, and easy-to-use 

digital services. 18F staff are all federal employees who bring cutting edge IT and software 

development expertise to the table.

18F concluded that CM/ECF is not sustainable in its current form, and recommended the 

Judiciary build a new, modern system to replace CM/ECF.

When building the new system, 18F recommends that the AO use:

• modern technology and architecture,

• agile software development and acquisition practices,

• user-centered design,

• improved cybersecurity, and 

• other modern software development methodologies.

According to 18F, implementing these recommendations will ultimately improve the CM/ECF 

user experience, and lead to a system that is more reliable, easier to maintain, and more 

secure. The Group’s recommendations that were not feasible in the current CM/ECF and PACER 

ecosystem will be reconsidered as the judiciary moves forward with this modernization effort.

Open Discussion

Members asked whether the Judiciary would continue allowing remote access to court 

proceedings after the pandemic emergency subsides because it has improved public access. AO 

staff explained that continuing this practice beyond the current national emergency status 

would require changes to statute and Judicial Conference policy that have not occurred. Along 

the same lines, members asked whether the AO planned to recommend a date by which courts 

should return to full onsite operations. The AO does not have authority over courts, but rather, 

each court has discretion to assess local conditions and make such determinations. Most 

courts, however, have begun or are working toward full onsite operations. 

Members reiterated their concerns relating to HSDs and sealed documents in CM/ECF 

generally, and identified the problem of being charged a fee for selecting documents that are 

sealed HSDs, but which have no indication of that designation before the user is charged. AO 

staff will research possible remedies, other than the PACER credit/refund request process.