The New England First Amendment Coalition and several Rhode Island open government advocates — collectively known as Access/RI — are again renewing their concerns about proposed rules that would limit public access to online court records.
The state judiciary plans to make court records accessible online to all members of the public with certain limitations. NEFAC and its Access/RI partners previously contacted state judiciary officials in October 2024 and January 2025 to object to several of those limitations.
In an April 28 letter, the organizations focused on two main issues that must be addressed: fees and the exclusion of trial exhibits from public access.
“While some positive changes have been made to the proposal since testimony was last elicited a year ago,” the groups wrote, “our coalition continues to have concerns that the proposed standards for public access to court records fail in a few ways to meet the transparency goals that should be a key component of this new electronic system.”
The proposed rules would allow the judiciary to charge fees for remote downloading and printing of documents.
“The rule provides no clue as to the amounts that would be charged,” NEFAC and its partners explained, “but any cost is bound to inhibit many individuals from taking advantage of the new system’s remote access capabilities.”
While the first version of the proposed rules indicated that the public would not have access to any exhibits filed in a lawsuit, the latest version limits this restriction to trial exhibits, not exhibits that are electronically filed with complaints or memoranda of law, for example.
“This is an important and welcome clarification,” the groups wrote, acknowleding that “there are obviously certain types of physical exhibits presented at trial that are not documents and not uploadable.”
Even with this being the case, “we do not understand what technical limitations would prevent the uploading of paper trial exhibits to the portal,” they added. “We urge that this rule be amended to establish a process for the uploading of paper trial exhibits to the portal in order to make them available for public access.”
NEFAC is the region’s leading defender of First Amendment freedoms and the public’s right to know about government. You can learn more about our advocacy here and explore all our legal briefing and policy letters here.
NEFAC is the region’s leading defender of the First Amendment and open government. The coalition began in 2006 to advance and protect the five freedoms of the First Amendment, including the principle of the public’s right to know. We’re a broad-based organization of people who believe in the power of an informed democratic society.
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NEFAC appreciates the support of all its donors and contributors. In particular, we would like to recognize the Estate of Gloria L. Negri, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the following Leadership Circle donors: Rhode Island Foundation, The Boston Globe, Paul and Ann Sagan, and the Robertson Foundation. Major Supporters of NEFAC’s work include Hearst Connecticut Media Group, Boston University, the Academy of New England Journalists, and Truro News.