[HN Gopher] Full Text Search of US Court records
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Full Text Search of US Court records
Author : FigurativeVoid
Score : 414 points
Date : 2025-04-18 20:24 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.judyrecords.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.judyrecords.com)
| catlover76 wrote:
| Where is this getting the docs from? It's a lot of work for
| FLP/Courtlistener to get stuff, and even they don't have 100% of
| records (not sure if this site is claiming to have 100%, it's
| unclear)
| TZubiri wrote:
| Probably scraped and aggregated from the various state,
| municipal and federal courts directly.
| comex wrote:
| At least for federal courts, the records are available on
| PACER but they cost money. Who is paying?
| kopecs wrote:
| Probably https://free.law/
|
| ETA: which is of course mentioned on the thread root. But
| RECAP users would be paying, in that case.
| ls612 wrote:
| All court records are not copyrightable so once one person
| gets a document from PACER they are free to upload it to
| things like RECAP. Allegedly PACER is only allowed to
| charge enough to cover the infra costs of operating it, and
| has a pretty generous free tier nowadays so it's mostly law
| firms that end up having to pay.
| qingcharles wrote:
| This. Each county pretty much has a unique system though, so
| it's a pain.
| ideashower wrote:
| Assuming this is Federal Court and not States, right?
| wavemode wrote:
| Doesn't seem to be Federal-only, or even only major crimes.
| Here is a result I found for misdemeanor failure to pay taxes
| in Alaska: https://www.judyrecords.com/record/1q894pg6bfe9
| hammock wrote:
| No and it misses a lot like chancery court
| ww520 wrote:
| Including states and counties, I got my traffic ticket result
| at the county level.
| 6stringmerc wrote:
| Very cool glad this site is still around after the fiasco with
| the company claiming a hack / breach when it was their own
| deployment revealing sealed case files.
| IG_Semmelweiss wrote:
| can you elaborate ? how can sealed case files be exposed by a
| 3rd party index ?
| dreamcompiler wrote:
| Because they weren't sealed. There was no access control on
| the system. The vendor used obscure URLs claiming they made
| the system "secure."
|
| And we know how that story always plays out.
| pvg wrote:
| Some big Show HN threads a couple of years ago:
|
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30399881
|
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25150702
| kubb wrote:
| 4,577,166 cases for marijuana.
| morkalork wrote:
| Smoking Marijuana can ruin your life. Why? Because the state
| will ruin it for you if they catch you with it!
| RKFADU_UOFCCLEL wrote:
| What is your opinion about Addictive social media or porn?
|
| Sorry, had to.
| morkalork wrote:
| You don't need the government to ruin your life for you
| with those :)
| cwmoore wrote:
| Really is more about quality than quantity.
| hoten wrote:
| I searched my name. It gave me a hit for someone (criminal
| trespass) in Texas, in a year I lived there, with my exact same
| height and ~same weight, and the arraignment date is my birthday.
| Wasn't me. Spooky!
| thelittleone wrote:
| Sleep walker per chance?
| m463 wrote:
| Entire search system is a long-con for a "clear your name"
| business.
| CobrastanJorji wrote:
| If that other guy is a from anywhere in Central or South
| America, I would not go back to Texas any time in the next four
| years.
| qingcharles wrote:
| I just helped a guy get 14 crimes removed from his record that
| he didn't commit. Someone in Texas just continuously committed
| heinous crimes over a decade or more and they were all just
| added to this other guy's criminal record. They seemingly had
| the same first name/initial/last name (fairly common name). I'm
| assuming dude in Texas was allowed to commit a crime spree
| because every time he was pulled in front of the court it
| looked like he was a first time offender.
| bfung wrote:
| > Wasn't me
|
| That's what they all say XD j/k
| TZubiri wrote:
| Very nice.
|
| Can you do structured field queries?
|
| Like, all cases where defendant is X. And maybe where the cause
| is Y
| breadchris wrote:
| would love this even more if the search query ended up in the URL
| fancyswimtime wrote:
| the search pattern implemented is strange; I'd guess to push
| certain users to using the api
| miltonlaxer wrote:
| Yeah we need to be able to pass query to share ?q=mysearch
| photonthug wrote:
| I've searched for "sandwich murder" and did not find what I was
| looking for, but the way the elisions line up are sometimes
| pretty funny. I've also learned that Subway shops are among the
| most dangerous eateries and that bologna especially seems to make
| people irritable enough to open fire. A few highlights for your
| consideration, redacted to protect the innocent, guilty, or
| hungry bystanders - that the evidence that
| defendant fired the murder weapon during the sandwich -
| bologna sandwich found at the crime scene - presence in
| sandwich the morning of the murder - ways in which they
| could murder her mother. these included the sandwich ... sandwich
| incident could not be used - crime of capital murder. as a
| habitual offender, sentenced to life ... to the "bologna
| sandwich" constituted reversible error - coroner testified
| that victim had eaten a fish sandwich within 2 hours ... prior to
| his death - it was not first degree murder, and the court
| should have ... sandwich. he paid for the sandwich, but did not
| pay for the coffee - convicted of malice murder and
| possession of a ... sandwich - she was shot and that she
| had some change in one hand and a sandwich in the other ...
| sandwich in your hand kind of slow your progress down in getting
| a gun out of your ... sandwich
| xeromal wrote:
| I grew up in a small town of 5000 in rural US and the first
| murder in the city that I remember was a guy who killed another
| guy in a subway. It was one of 2 that I remember in about 18
| years
| frogpelt wrote:
| There are a lot of Subways and many times they are in strip
| malls and gas stations. That could be an explanation. Can't
| explain the bologna part.
| sizzle wrote:
| The way they lay out their triangle cheese slices and skimp on
| toppings does it for me
| delichon wrote:
| As a free service, I wonder if the burden of complying with a
| right to be forgotten would be too much to sustain.
| _bin_ wrote:
| Almost certainly. Presumably why it's not available to euros.
|
| Also would be a very strange to apply this so-called "right"
| when court records are essential to keeping organs of
| government accountable.
| carstenhag wrote:
| Relatively sure this would be fine in some European
| countries. In Germany, afaik it's an ongoing question on
| whether there's a copyright on the records (especially from
| the lawyer texts).
|
| The names and so on are always censored anyhow, in some cases
| it's a bit obvious who did things though. If it's a lawsuit
| about a company and let's say it sells books online, maybe
| you can tell by 1-2 things what company it is. But for
| people, it's not so straight forward.
| miki123211 wrote:
| > The names and so on are always censored anyhow
|
| This is actually starting to become a problem because
| computers are getting too good at their job.
|
| Let's say a news site reports on a criminal trial of a John
| Smith, censored as John S. If John Smith was in any way
| famous before the trial and had an article written about
| him, that article is somewhat likely to appear in the "you
| may also like" sidebar when you're reading the censored
| one. Some news sites try to suppress this, but I'm not sure
| they're legally required to do so.
| victorbjorklund wrote:
| im im EU and it is noy blocked here
| joekim wrote:
| I would think so if the right to be forgotten was legal
| principle in the United States. It only applies in Europe and I
| don't think it applies to court records that are public.
| miki123211 wrote:
| In Europe, court records aren't public in the same way as
| they are in the US.
|
| They're not searchable, they're often not even digitized, and
| the media is generally not allowed to report the full names
| of those accused.
|
| Where I live, it's literally impossible to run a background
| check on somebody. If a background check is required, the
| person of interest has to specifically request an official
| document from the government proving they haven't been
| _convicted_ for any crimes, or listing the crimes they have
| been convicted for. This is pretty common when starting a new
| job, I have had to do this.
|
| Now there's also a sex offenders registry, which authorized
| institutions can query directly, although they have to get
| consent first.
| NoTeslaThrow wrote:
| > Where I live, it's literally impossible to run a
| background check on somebody.
|
| I have a hard time imagine that law enforcement doesn't
| have access to it. At that point access is given by degree
| of difficulty and not "impossible". I could buy "illegal"
| tho.
| Muromec wrote:
| Police maintains the database, so of course they can run
| a background check. But they don't offer it as a service
| and don't give away the information to anyone _except_
| the person it concerns.
| Muromec wrote:
| >or listing the crimes they have been convicted for. This
| is pretty common when starting a new job
|
| In the Netherlands it's not even that -- you can ask for a
| certificate of "good behavior" with a purpose and they just
| say yes or no. If the purpose is employment, the form asks
| which sector you will be employed in, because sex offenders
| can still work _somewhere_ and so do people convicted of
| financial fraud. You just don 't want them to work in
| specific places, i.e. near kids or banks respectively.
|
| Data minimization is a thing.
| Jolter wrote:
| I believe it applies to court records, too, as long as the
| request for deletion is directed at an Internet search
| engine. The actual court record is not possible to get rid of
| under the GDPR, you can only make it so your court record is
| not returned by Google, Bing etc when searching for your
| name.
| ls612 wrote:
| Someone outside Europe should make a search engine that
| only shows records that Euro politicians don't want the
| public to see. The idea of the "right to be forgotten" is
| horrifying and straight out of 1984, thank god once again
| for the First Amendment.
| kragen wrote:
| Under US law, there is no such thing as a right to be
| forgotten, because it would infringe on the public's right to
| remember. This is considered especially important when what is
| being remembered is a lawsuit, where transparency is essential
| to protecting the public interest.
| bdangubic wrote:
| cases are generally expunged after X number of years (X
| varies state to state but there is always an X).
| kragen wrote:
| Generally not automatically, and not for civil lawsuits or
| for all crimes, and in the US expungement from court
| records does not obligate any third party to falsify
| newspaper archives, etc.:
| https://ccresourcecenter.org/state-restoration-
| profiles/50-s...
|
| A recent law review article on the prospects of this so-
| called "right" under US law is
| https://mttlr.org/2020/02/why-the-right-to-be-forgotten-
| wont..., citing
| https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/420/469/ ("It
| is unconstitutional under the First Amendment to
| criminalize releasing the name of a rape victim or to
| permit a private right of action against the press for
| doing so."), and
| https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-
| courts/ca9/12.... See also
| https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-
| courts/ca2/13....
| NoTeslaThrow wrote:
| > because it would infringe on the public's right to remember
|
| ? What are you referring to? I've never heard of such a
| concept.
| the_arun wrote:
| Are these not available in public search sites like Google?
| kevin_thibedeau wrote:
| They're nominally available on the PACER database for a fee
| that is waived for infrequent users. Queries from there can be
| archived by the RECAP extension to make the public records
| unencumbered.
| IG_Semmelweiss wrote:
| Can you expand on this ?
|
| I searched the DB but it seems i couldnt get the actual
| docket unless i paid for a PACER sub. Is that right ? This is
| only an index, but to actually see the court docs, you have
| to pay someone ?
| kevin_thibedeau wrote:
| You sign up with a CC. At the end of the month they will
| reverse any charges if you stay below some threshold for
| number of queries. You will get PDF links to the court
| filings related to each case.
| qingcharles wrote:
| If it's something you want, email me at my bio and I'll
| pull it from PACER.
|
| Otherwise, courtlistener has PACER docs that us users
| exfiltrate from PACER and upload for free.
| paustint wrote:
| All of the five searches I tried had Tennessee court documents as
| the top result, anyone else experience this?
| raegis wrote:
| Same here. I lived there 30 years ago, and my one speeding
| ticket in TN shows up first. I've had 2 or 3 "rolling stop
| sign" tickets in CA and can not find them.
| ww520 wrote:
| Search my name got the traffic infraction records, but none of
| the briefs and deposition I filed during discovery.
| nemobius wrote:
| classic
| IIAOPSW wrote:
| I appreciate that "we both reached for the gun" and "he had it
| coming" both turn up more than a handful of hits. "and all that
| jazz".
| NoboruWataya wrote:
| "I'd do it again" -> 740 million+ hits.
| cynicalpeace wrote:
| I typed in my name and found my dad likes to drive around without
| a seat belt. He hates driving with a seat belt. Always has.
|
| I'm a Jr.
| almosthere wrote:
| Didn't the guy that did this last time get in trouble
| bdangubic wrote:
| it the same guy, same website :)
| hnfong wrote:
| Any further details?
| wizerno wrote:
| https://www.judyrecords.com/what-happened-with-tyler-
| technol...
| mikewarot wrote:
| Apparently it has Patent records as well... here's one of mine.
|
| https://www.judyrecords.com/record/qfwy5i5yb1e9
| jonsagara wrote:
| Searching up family members is a dangerous game to play on a
| Friday night
| rightbyte wrote:
| Ye I don't think it is good that authority gossip get so
| accessable.
| dizhn wrote:
| My name is coming a bunch of times. They are all patents (?)
| citing something I wrote. What does this mean? Oh. article cited
| by patent applicant. I didn't know I inspired a bunch of
| Microsoft patents in the 2010s :D
| calderwoodra wrote:
| What kind of database is this using and how is the search so
| performant?
| dygd wrote:
| Was curious too and checked the API docs - it's Elasticsearch.
| The docs even show the index mapping.
| https://documenter.getpostman.com/view/26019452/2s93Y5PKmb#d...
| rokob wrote:
| I can't find any of the times I've been in court. Not sure if
| good or bad.
| honestinquiryw wrote:
| How does one send a removal request if an EU citizen is listed in
| this directory?
| iancmceachern wrote:
| I'm not am expert, but I don't think you can, these are public
| court records.
| victorbjorklund wrote:
| You cant be removed from the court case. But you can remove
| the website putting it online.
| iancmceachern wrote:
| The government puts it online, the website is just the
| search engine.
| RKFADU_UOFCCLEL wrote:
| Ah! But legal people think that all of the following are
| by and from and are the same person:
|
| - the domain
|
| - the owner of the website
|
| - the content displayed on the website
| iancmceachern wrote:
| Even if the content is dynamically generated or
| regurgitated from elsewhere?
|
| And more to the point, to what end? If the info is public
| knowledge it's public knowledge, it's out there already.
| brudgers wrote:
| If it matters, ask your lawyer.
|
| If it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter.
| herodotus wrote:
| Interesting that it includes patents. (Found at least one of
| mine).
| sizzle wrote:
| Don't leave us hanging, what's the nature of your patent??
| sizzle wrote:
| Can someone help me with the filters? What's the best way to
| search and filter/return only full case texts? I keep getting
| patents and stuff
| Minor49er wrote:
| How do I sort the listings? I want to sort by filing date but I
| don't see the option for sorting. I'm on Firefox Mobile
| m348e912 wrote:
| I don't know how complete this database is.
|
| I couldn't find any hits on the Alec Balwin manslaughter case for
| shooting and killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring
| director Joel Souza.
|
| Maybe it's not in the database because the case was dismissed by
| the presiding judge?
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(page generated 2025-04-19 23:01 UTC)