Access to archived court documents must be fully...

Access to archived court documents must be fully restored, said the Electronic Frontier Foundation in a Tuesday blog post (http://bit.ly/1BMJJjX). The Administrative Office of the Courts (AO) recently removed historic documents for five federal courts -- including four federal appeals courts -- from PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) (http://1.usa.gov/1p64Ap4). Lawyers, think tanks, media outlets and nonprofits frequently access court records through PACER, a government-run, fee-based system, EFF said. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. sent a letter to AO last week, pressing the agency to restore access to the removed documents (http://bit.ly/1uTVpgx). “Senator Leahy’s letter implies something that really should be explicit: the removal of these historic documents should be seen as a blow to access to democracy,” EFF said. “That a PACER account is required to view court records is already an unacceptable obstruction of access to public information.” AO did not comment.