Appeals Court gives free access to court records
The New York State Court of Appeals will make case records, including briefs and motion papers, available online. The records can be accessed electronically through a searchable database called the Public Access and Search System or Court-PASS. Social Security numbers, children’s names, phone numbers, and other sensitive information will be removed from the available documents. There will be a restriction on certain records such as cases arising in Family Court and those that are sealed by a court order
Electronic access to records may be new to the Court of Appeals but it has been around for some time. “It is not evolutionary,” commented attorney Warren S. Hecht. “Theoretically you can get it on microfiche at the law library. In federal court, things were available online for years.”
Many lawyers are lauding the expansion as a useful tool for attorneys.