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To find a federal civil rights lawsuit, search PACER’s nationwide Case Locator if you do not know which court handled it. Once you have the court and case number, use the official docket to identify filings and retrieve the documents. Verify any copy against the docket entry, case number, court, and filing date. Use FOIA for records held by federal agencies—not for court filings—and ask the relevant state or local government for its records.
1. Find the case before looking for documents
Search for the case by party name or case number. If you do not know the federal court, start with the PACER Case Locator, which searches nationwide and returns the court and case number along with other case information. You can also search the known court directly or visit its clerk’s office, as the United States Courts explains.
PACER says its nationwide index is generally refreshed nightly and new cases typically appear within 24 hours; that timing is not a guarantee for every case. If a search does not find the party, PACER advises contacting the court you believe handled the case. Try name variants and use any known court, date range, or case number to narrow results. Before treating a match as the right lawsuit, compare the parties, jurisdiction, case type, and dates.
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A docket is an index of case activity, not the underlying filing. The federal courts describe a case file as including both a docket sheet and documents filed in the case. Read the docket entry to identify what was filed and when, then retrieve the underlying document where it is available.
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Depending on what you need to establish, useful filings may include:
- The complaint and any answers or other responses
- Substantive motions and supporting briefs
- Orders, opinions, and judgments
- Relevant appellate filings
The right documents depend on the case’s posture and your question. A complaint states allegations; it does not, by itself, establish that those allegations are true. Likewise, a docket description is not a substitute for reading the filing or ruling.
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3. Verify a copy against the official docket
For a document found in a news story, archive, or third-party database, compare it with the official court docket where available. Check each of these details:
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- Docket entry: Match the document to the docket-entry number and description.
- Filing date: Check that the date on the record aligns with the docket.
- Document and filer: Read the document itself and note who filed it. A party’s proposed order, for example, is not the same as an order issued by the court.
Keep the procedural status clear: distinguish a party’s allegations or arguments from a court’s findings and decisions.
4. Choose the right route for the record you need
| Record sought | Where to look | What to keep in mind |
|---|---|---|
| Federal court filing | PACER, the relevant court’s electronic case system, or the courthouse clerk’s office | The official docket is the reference for identifying court filings. Some material is not publicly viewable online. |
| A copy already collected for free | RECAP, listed by the Library of Congress as a legal research resource | Coverage depends on documents contributed or collected. Check an archived copy against the official docket; an absent RECAP copy does not show that the court has no filing. |
| Records held by a federal agency | The relevant agency component’s FOIA process | DOJ advises requesters seeking its records about litigation to identify the component involved. FOIA concerns agency-held records, not the court’s case file. |
| State or local government records | The state or local government entity that maintains the records | Federal FOIA does not make state or local records federal agency records. |
| Older or unavailable court material | The relevant clerk’s office | Ask what access, archive, or retrieval process applies to the specific record. |
5. Know what may be missing or restricted
A public docket does not mean every filing can be downloaded by the public. PACER says sealed documents are not publicly viewable and that public records may omit specified personal identifiers. Its FAQ also lists some older bankruptcy and criminal filings, as well as social security and immigration case documents, among categories that may not be available through PACER.
A missing online copy alone does not prove that a document never existed. It may be sealed, restricted, unavailable through that service, outside an archive’s coverage, or not yet indexed. For an apparently missing document, check the docket and ask the clerk about access rather than drawing a conclusion from one database.
FOIA is not an unconditional alternative for agency-held material. FOIA.gov explains that agencies may withhold records under nine statutory exemptions; the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division FOIA page describes those exemption categories. An agency request can therefore result in withheld or redacted material.
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6. Account for PACER charges
PACER’s fee guidance, checked on October 3, 2026, states that access costs $0.10 per page, with a $3 cap for each document and case-specific report. The cap does not apply to every kind of search or transcript. Quarterly charges of $30 or less are waived. PACER charges for search results, including searches that return no matches, so narrow terms and date ranges can help avoid unnecessary charges. Confirm the current fee schedule before searching because charges can change.
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The federal judiciary describes PACER as providing access to more than 1 billion documents; the service page does not state a publication year for that figure. The scale of the archive does not change the access limits: some records are restricted, and an online result may not include every document in a case.
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