Document Details
id
(number)
The document's ID. Each document's ID is unique.
document_status
(string)
| Value | Description |
|---|---|
Approved | The document's metadata is complete. |
Coding Complete | The document's metadata is complete, but it is awaiting internal review. |
In Process | The document has been added to the Clearinghouse, but work on the metadata has not started or is in progress. |
title
(string)
The name or title of a document, usually as it appears in the document itself. Most documents filed in court have formal names/titles (e.g. "Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment"). For documents that don't, like letters, we use description.
no_title
(boolean)
If true, it indicates that the document doesn't have a title.
description
(string)
A brief description of the document. We usually use this for documents that don't have formal titles (like letters).
ecf_number
(string)
In federal court, documents filed in a case are assigned ECF numbers in the order they're filed. In the Clearinghouse, we use these numbers to line up documents with docket entries.
Sometimes one document is attached to another document in PACER/RECAP. The attached document will have a dash (e.g. "15-2", where the document is the second attachment).
date
(string)
The document's date in the format "YYYY-MM-DD". This is usually when the document was filed in court, signed, or sent.
date_is_estimate
(boolean)
If true, it indicates that date information is an estimate.
date_not_available
(boolean)
If true, it indicates that we don't have any date information for a document.
document_type
(string)
What kind of thing the document is. We have a good number of options, some of which are more common than others. Most of the document types are specific kinds of court filings (e.g. "Complaint"), while others are more general (e.g. "Correspondence").
| Document Type | Description |
|---|---|
Complaint | A document that contains the facts underlying the lawsuit, the plaintiff's legal claims, and what the plaintiff would like the court to do. A complaint often starts a case. |
Opinion/Order | A document where a judge or court make a decision in a case and (sometimes) explain their reasoning. These can be very short or very long, depending on the amount of legal reasoning. |
Pleading/Motion /Brief | This is a catch-all category for documents filed by lawyers in court. |
Monitor/Expert/ Receiver Report | Monitors, experts, and receivers are all people with special expertise (e.g. doctors) who give the court their professional opinion. Often they create written reports on their findings. |
Settlement | An agreement between the parties of the lawsuit to end the case. It might include a promise to pay money or to change actions. |
Docket | A court's record of everything that happened in a case, usually organized by date. |
Correspondence | A letter NOT filed in court. |
Declaration/Affidavit | A legal document where somebody swears that facts are true, under penalty of perjury. |
Discovery/ FOIA Material | Discovery: the evidence in a case, turned over as part of a lawsuit. FOIA Material: government documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (or similar) request. |
FOIA Request | A request for government documents under the Freedom of Information Act. |
Internal Memorandum | A memorandum or correspondence inside of an organization. |
Legislative Report | A report by a legislature. |
Magistrate Report/ Recommendation | In the federal court system, magistrates are lower level judges who don't have the full powers of a federal judge. Sometimes they will resolve a legal question by writing a report and recommendation to a full federal judge, who can approve or reject it. These usually look a lot like opinions. |
Statute/ Ordinance/ Regulation | A rule or law created by a legislature or state or federal agency. |
Executive Order | A rule or order created by the president, a governor, or someone else in charge of a governmental entity, like a city or county. |
Transcripts | A verbatim written record of a hearing or trial in court. These are in dialog format, like a screenplay. |
Justification Memo | An internal memo by a DOJ attorney explaining why an entity should be investigated. This document type is just for U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division cases. |
Notice Letter | A public letter from the DOJ to an entity letting them know they are the subject of an investigation. This document type is just for U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division cases. |
Findings Memo | A public memo from the DOJ explaining the findings of an investigation. This document type is just for U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division cases. |
document_type_other
(string)
This field allows users to input a new, single use document type, if a document doesn't fit into any of the categories above. We don't use it very often.
order_type
(number)
This field indicates whether a document is a court order and, if so, what kind of court order.
In terms of kinds of orders, we're basically asking two questions:
Is the order a decree? We define decree to mean that the court is telling somebody outside of the lawsuit to do something.
Is the order on consent (the parties agreed to it) or was it litigated (the parties didn't agree and the court had to decide)?
Order type only matters for documents created by judges and settlements approved by judges. That means that for most document types, this value is null.
| Order Type | Description |
|---|---|
null | The document is not a court order. |
Non-Decree | A court order that does not tell somebody outside the lawsuit to do something. |
Litigated Decree | A court order that tells somebody outside the lawsuit to do something, where the parties didn't agree on the outcome. |
Consent Decree | A court order that tells somebody outside the lawsuit to do something, where the parties agreed on the outcome. |
document_source
(string)
Where we originally sourced a document. There are lots of options, but some of the most common are:
| Document Source | Description |
|---|---|
PACER | The federal court system's online document filing website |
RECAP | A website run by a non-profit organization which scrapes documents from PACER and makes them availalble for free |
Westlaw, LexisNexis | A commercial database of legal materials used by many lawyers |
U.S. Department of Justice | The federal agency responsible for enforcing many civil rights laws |
Papers of (various individuals) | Personal papers of an attorney, judge, or other civil rights figure that have been shared with the Clearinghouse |
party_types
(array[string])
The types of parties or entities that filed or created a document. More than one can be selected. The options are:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
Plaintiff | The person or entity who files a lawsuit. |
Administrative tribunal | A government office or agency, other than a court, that resolves disputes. |
Amicus Curiae | Latin for "friend of the court." Someone who isn't a part of a lawsuit, but gives the judge advice about how to decide a case. |
Mediator | A person (other than the judge) who tries to help the parties to a lawsuit negotiate a compromise agreement. |
Defendant | The person or entity who a lawsuit is filed against |
Court | The judge. |
Defendant-Intervenor | A person or entity who joins a case filed by someone else as a defendant. |
Expert | A person with special expertise (like a doctor or scientist) who is hired by the parties or the court to give their opinion in a lawsuit. |
Monitor/Master | A person hired by the court to determine whether an institution or entity is complying with the terms of a settlement or court order. |
Plaintiff-Intervenor | A person or entity who joins a case filed by someone else as a plaintiff. |
Receiver | A person who is placed in control of an institution or entity by a court. |
court
(string)
is_core_document
(boolean)
Whether the document is a central document to the case. By default, all documents are core documents; we use this only to tidy up cases with lots of documents.
On the Clearinghouse site, this controls whether the document is immediately visible. If is_core_document is false, then a user must uncheck the "show only core documents" box to see the document on the Clearinghouse site.
public_note
(string)
This field allows us to add publicly visible text to a document entry.
external_url
(string)
A link to the document at another place on the Internet.
clearinghouse_link
(string)
URL to the clearinghouse.net page for the document.
file
(string)
URL to the PDF file for the document.
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