Among the many bad reasons for shutting down the government, starving the judiciary of funds in a bid to delay Trump’s federal criminal cases until the election and hoping he earns the power to pardon himself ranks among the worst. Not just because grinding the federal courts to a halt would necessarily roadblock countless other serious criminal prosecutions, but it also just won’t work.
And we have decades of unbridled grifting of the federal courts to thank!
House Republicans were already stymied in slowing down the case by hoping to bankrupt Jack Smith — he’s working with a “permanent, indefinite appropriation,” which sounds like something your law school debt provider might say to describe your relationship — so some of them have decided blowing up the courts might be the answer. Not the least of these calls spews from the defendant himself, who took to Truth Social yesterday to cheer on a government shutdown to “defund these political prosecutions against me and other Patriots.” Which shouldn’t be a proper noun unless the Justice Department is mounting a case against years of cheating, but I digress.
The problem with this strategy is PACER:
In the event of a shutdown, the U.S. court system will remain fully funded for up to three weeks. And even after that, the judicial branch of the federal government can tap into “carryover” funds from previous years and fees like the ones charged by Pacer, the online court documents database that costs the public 10 cents a page for downloads.
Yes, the PACER system that offers 2020s access to a 1990s-level database of caselaw for the low, low price of gouging litigants! As the costs of hosting a website have plummeted, the federal courts kept charging per page fees to access public court documents as if you’d rushed to the Kinko’s to run off copies of your personal Zine to hand out at the Toad the Wet Sprocket show.
The courts said it costs $2 billion to maintain this system. That’s horse hockey. But while they spent years hoodwinking Congress into letting their fees remain undisturbed, the judiciary used the PACER funds that were supposed to be earmarked to keep the system running for all manner of slushy slush fund stuff. As a federal judge described it, the funds would end up being used for “redecorating the office” or “gold-plated toilets.”
Ultimately, the judiciary caved and Congress got involved in putting an end to PACER fees in most instances and opening up public records to, well, the public. And then they unceremoniously snuffed out that effort.
But here we are, staring at the silver lining.
Like the grasshopper and the ant, as other federal agencies used their budgeted funds to cover annual expenses as dictated by law, the courts saved up for the winter of budgetary irresponsibility.
Trump’s Government Shutdown Push to Starve His Criminal Cases Has a Fundamental Flaw [The Messenger]
Earlier: When Federal Judges Said Free PACER Would Cost $2B, They Were Completely Full Of Crap
Free PACER Would Cost $2B And Other Completely Made Up Garbage The Federal Judiciary Is Peddling
Appeals Court Confirms What You Already Knew: PACER Is A Rip-Off
Free PACER Searches Coming! Federal Judiciary Boldly Steps Into Early 2000s!
‘Do You Have A Lot Of Trouble Answering Questions Generally In Life Or Just When You Come In Front Of The Court?’
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
