Case Details
id
(number)
The case's ID. Each case's ID is unique.
clearinghouse_link
(string)
The URL to the case on the Clearinghouse site, which takes the format "clearinghouse.net/case/{id}".
name
(string)
The name of the case. Although a case's name may change as the case progresses, we generally do not update this field.
state
(string)
The state in which the case happens. This is typically a U.S. state, but other possible values for this field are U.S. territories, the District of Columbia, "- International -", "- United States (national) -", and "Other".
Typically cases occur all in one state, but if a case entry concerns litigation that happens in multiple states, state will be the main state of the case. In cases where there are appeals to courts that cover multiple states (e.g. the Supreme Court of the United States), state is the state where the case originated.
court
(string)
The court where a case starts. If a case entry concerns litigation that happens in multiple courts (e.g. appeals, consolidations), court remains the first court relevant to the case.
There are several types of courts:
no court
No Court
This is for cases where no court was involved, e.g. private out-of-court settlements, U.S. Department of Justice investigations
state courts
Michigan state trial court
Ohio state appellate court
New York state supreme court
Courts part of a state's judicial system. If a case's court is a state court, it must be a court associated with state.
Because each state has its own way of organizing courts, we have three generic options for each state: trial court, appellate court, and supreme court. Trial courts are the courts where cases typically start, appellate courts hear cases on appeal, and the supreme court is the highest court in the state.
Note: These do NOT necessarily correspond to the names of the courts. For example, "New York state supreme court" refers to the New York Court of Appeals, while "New York state trial court" refers to the New York Supreme Courts.
U.S. district courts
District of Massachusetts
District of Columbia
Western District of Washington
Northern District of Illinois
District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands
District Court of the Virgin Islands
The trial courts of the U.S. federal judicial system. Each judicial district covers one U.S. state or one portion of a state. There is at least one judicial district for each state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands.
If a case's court is a U.S. district court, it must be a court associated with state.
U.S. appellate courts
U. S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
U. S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
The intermediate courts of the U.S. federal judicial system. The courts of appeal are divided into 11 numbered circuits, each of which covers multiple states. In addition, there are circuits for the District of Columbia and the Federal Circuit.
If a case's court is a U.S. appellate court, it must be a court associated with state.
Note: The space between "U." and "S." is a typo that may be fixed in a future update.
U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The highest court in the U.S. federal judicial system.
specialty courts (FISA)
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) established these courts to oversee government requests for foreign intelligence surveillance warrants by federal law enforcement agencies.
specialty courts (international trade)
U. S. Court of International Trade
This court is for civil cases arising out of U.S. customs and international trade laws.
specialty courts (veterans claims)
U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
This court receives appeals of decisions by the Board of Veterans' Appeals. This court is part of the U.S. federal judicial system and not part of the Department of Veteran Affairs.
specialty courts (multidistrict litigation)
U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML)
Known informally as "the MDL Panel," the JPML oversees the process of transferring similar cases in different districts in order to coordinate or consolidate pretrial proceedings.
case_types
(array[string])
The case types that apply to the case. Every case has at least one type, and some will have multiple.
For a full list of possible case types (with descriptions), see here.
special_collections
(array[string])
The special collections that a case belongs to. Special collections are pre-tagged groupings of cases that we think might be of particular interest. If the case does not belong to any special collections, special_collections is an empty array.
For a full list of possible special collections (with descriptions), see here.
case_ongoing
(string)
Whether the case is ongoing. Possible values:
Yes
There are still things that will happen in the case.
Unknown
We aren't sure if anything else will happen.
Perhaps, but long dormant
We think there might still be things to happen in the case, but nothing has happened for awhile.
No reason to think so
We don't think the case is still ongoing, but we're not sure.
No
The case is closed.
If this field is empty, then check the case_status.
Last updated