Full Text Search of US Court records

https://www.judyrecords.com/

449 100 1 year ago

Where is this getting the docs from? It's a lot of work for FLP/Courtlistener to get stuff, and even they don't have 100% of records (not sure if this site is claiming to have 100%, it's unclear)

TZubiri2• 1 year ago

Probably scraped and aggregated from the various state, municipal and federal courts directly.

comex• 1 year ago

At least for federal courts, the records are available on PACER but they cost money. Who is paying?

qingcharles3• 1 year ago

This. Each county pretty much has a unique system though, so it's a pain.

ideashower• 1 year ago

Assuming this is Federal Court and not States, right?

wavemode• 1 year ago

Doesn't seem to be Federal-only, or even only major crimes. Here is a result I found for misdemeanor failure to pay taxes in Alaska: https://www.judyrecords.com/record/1q894pg6bfe9

hammock• 1 year ago

No and it misses a lot like chancery court

ww5202• 1 year ago

Including states and counties, I got my traffic ticket result at the county level.

6stringmerc• 1 year ago

Very cool glad this site is still around after the fiasco with the company claiming a hack / breach when it was their own deployment revealing sealed case files.

IG_Semmelweiss3• 1 year ago

can you elaborate ? how can sealed case files be exposed by a 3rd party index ?

dreamcompiler• 1 year ago

Because they weren't sealed. There was no access control on the system. The vendor used obscure URLs claiming they made the system "secure."

And we know how that story always plays out.

pvg• 1 year ago

Some big Show HN threads a couple of years ago:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30399881

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25150702

kubb• 1 year ago

4,577,166 cases for marijuana.

morkalork3• 1 year ago

Smoking Marijuana can ruin your life. Why? Because the state will ruin it for you if they catch you with it!

RKFADU_UOFCCLEL2• 1 year ago

What is your opinion about Addictive social media or porn?

Sorry, had to.

cwmoore• 1 year ago

Really is more about quality than quantity.

hoten• 1 year ago

I searched my name. It gave me a hit for someone (criminal trespass) in Texas, in a year I lived there, with my exact same height and ~same weight, and the arraignment date is my birthday. Wasn't me. Spooky!

thelittleone• 1 year ago

Sleep walker per chance?

m463• 1 year ago

Entire search system is a long-con for a "clear your name" business.

CobrastanJorji• 1 year ago

If that other guy is a from anywhere in Central or South America, I would not go back to Texas any time in the next four years.

qingcharles3• 1 year ago

I just helped a guy get 14 crimes removed from his record that he didn't commit. Someone in Texas just continuously committed heinous crimes over a decade or more and they were all just added to this other guy's criminal record. They seemingly had the same first name/initial/last name (fairly common name). I'm assuming dude in Texas was allowed to commit a crime spree because every time he was pulled in front of the court it looked like he was a first time offender.

bfung• 1 year ago

Wasn’t me

That’s what they all say XD j/k

almosthere2• 1 year ago

Won't it be wonderful when some hiring SaaS integrates JudyRecords into their system!

TZubiri2• 1 year ago

Very nice.

Can you do structured field queries?

Like, all cases where defendant is X. And maybe where the cause is Y

breadchris• 1 year ago

would love this even more if the search query ended up in the URL

fancyswimtime• 1 year ago

the search pattern implemented is strange; I'd guess to push certain users to using the api

miltonlaxer• 1 year ago

Yeah we need to be able to pass query to share ?q=mysearch

photonthug• 1 year ago

I've searched for "sandwich murder" and did not find what I was looking for, but the way the elisions line up are sometimes pretty funny. I've also learned that Subway shops are among the most dangerous eateries and that bologna especially seems to make people irritable enough to open fire. A few highlights for your consideration, redacted to protect the innocent, guilty, or hungry bystanders

  - that the evidence that defendant fired the murder weapon during the sandwich
  - bologna sandwich found at the crime scene
  - presence in sandwich the morning of the murder
  - ways in which they could murder her mother. these included the sandwich ... sandwich incident could not be used
  - crime of capital murder. as a habitual offender, sentenced to life ... to the "bologna sandwich" constituted reversible error
  - coroner testified that victim had eaten a fish sandwich within 2 hours ... prior to his death
  - it was not first degree murder, and the court should have ... sandwich. he paid for the sandwich, but did not pay for the coffee
  - convicted of malice murder and possession of a ... sandwich
  - she was shot and that she had some change in one hand and a sandwich in the other ... sandwich in your hand kind of slow your progress down in getting a gun out of your ... sandwich

xeromal• 1 year ago

I grew up in a small town of 5000 in rural US and the first murder in the city that I remember was a guy who killed another guy in a subway. It was one of 2 that I remember in about 18 years

frogpelt• 1 year ago

There are a lot of Subways and many times they are in strip malls and gas stations. That could be an explanation. Can’t explain the bologna part.

sizzle3• 1 year ago

The way they lay out their triangle cheese slices and skimp on toppings does it for me

delichon• 1 year ago

As a free service, I wonder if the burden of complying with a right to be forgotten would be too much to sustain.

_bin_3• 1 year ago

Almost certainly. Presumably why it’s not available to euros.

Also would be a very strange to apply this so-called “right” when court records are essential to keeping organs of government accountable.

carstenhag• 1 year ago

Relatively sure this would be fine in some European countries. In Germany, afaik it's an ongoing question on whether there's a copyright on the records (especially from the lawyer texts).

The names and so on are always censored anyhow, in some cases it's a bit obvious who did things though. If it's a lawsuit about a company and let's say it sells books online, maybe you can tell by 1-2 things what company it is. But for people, it's not so straight forward.

victorbjorklund2• 1 year ago

im im EU and it is noy blocked here

joekim• 1 year ago

I would think so if the right to be forgotten was legal principle in the United States. It only applies in Europe and I don’t think it applies to court records that are public.

miki1232112• 1 year ago

In Europe, court records aren't public in the same way as they are in the US.

They're not searchable, they're often not even digitized, and the media is generally not allowed to report the full names of those accused.

Where I live, it's literally impossible to run a background check on somebody. If a background check is required, the person of interest has to specifically request an official document from the government proving they haven't been convicted for any crimes, or listing the crimes they have been convicted for. This is pretty common when starting a new job, I have had to do this.

Now there's also a sex offenders registry, which authorized institutions can query directly, although they have to get consent first.

Jolter4• 1 year ago

I believe it applies to court records, too, as long as the request for deletion is directed at an Internet search engine. The actual court record is not possible to get rid of under the GDPR, you can only make it so your court record is not returned by Google, Bing etc when searching for your name.

kragen4• 1 year ago

Under US law, there is no such thing as a right to be forgotten, because it would infringe on the public's right to remember. This is considered especially important when what is being remembered is a lawsuit, where transparency is essential to protecting the public interest.

bdangubic2• 1 year ago

cases are generally expunged after X number of years (X varies state to state but there is always an X).

NoTeslaThrow4• 1 year ago

because it would infringe on the public's right to remember

? What are you referring to? I've never heard of such a concept.

the_arun• 1 year ago

Are these not available in public search sites like Google?

kevin_thibedeau2• 1 year ago

They're nominally available on the PACER database for a fee that is waived for infrequent users. Queries from there can be archived by the RECAP extension to make the public records unencumbered.

IG_Semmelweiss3• 1 year ago

Can you expand on this ?

I searched the DB but it seems i couldnt get the actual docket unless i paid for a PACER sub. Is that right ? This is only an index, but to actually see the court docs, you have to pay someone ?

paustint• 1 year ago

All of the five searches I tried had Tennessee court documents as the top result, anyone else experience this?

raegis• 1 year ago

Same here. I lived there 30 years ago, and my one speeding ticket in TN shows up first. I've had 2 or 3 "rolling stop sign" tickets in CA and can not find them.

ww5202• 1 year ago

Search my name got the traffic infraction records, but none of the briefs and deposition I filed during discovery.

nemobius• 1 year ago

classic

IIAOPSW• 1 year ago

I appreciate that "we both reached for the gun" and "he had it coming" both turn up more than a handful of hits. "and all that jazz".

NoboruWataya• 1 year ago

"I'd do it again" -> 740 million+ hits.

cynicalpeace• 1 year ago

I typed in my name and found my dad likes to drive around without a seat belt. He hates driving with a seat belt. Always has.

I'm a Jr.

almosthere2• 1 year ago

Didn't the guy that did this last time get in trouble

bdangubic2• 1 year ago

it the same guy, same website :)

hnfong• 1 year ago

Any further details?

mikewarot• 1 year ago

Apparently it has Patent records as well... here's one of mine.

https://www.judyrecords.com/record/qfwy5i5yb1e9

jonsagara• 1 year ago

Searching up family members is a dangerous game to play on a Friday night

rightbyte• 1 year ago

Ye I don't think it is good that authority gossip get so accessable.

dizhn• 1 year ago

My name is coming a bunch of times. They are all patents (?) citing something I wrote. What does this mean? Oh. article cited by patent applicant. I didn't know I inspired a bunch of Microsoft patents in the 2010s :D

calderwoodra• 1 year ago

What kind of database is this using and how is the search so performant?

dygd• 1 year ago

Was curious too and checked the API docs - it's Elasticsearch. The docs even show the index mapping. https://documenter.getpostman.com/view/26019452/2s93Y5PKmb#d...

rokob• 1 year ago

I can’t find any of the times I’ve been in court. Not sure if good or bad.

honestinquiryw• 1 year ago

How does one send a removal request if an EU citizen is listed in this directory?

iancmceachern3• 1 year ago

I'm not am expert, but I don't think you can, these are public court records.

victorbjorklund2• 1 year ago

You cant be removed from the court case. But you can remove the website putting it online.

brudgers• 1 year ago

If it matters, ask your lawyer.

If it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter.

herodotus• 1 year ago

Interesting that it includes patents. (Found at least one of mine).

sizzle3• 1 year ago

Don’t leave us hanging, what’s the nature of your patent??

sizzle3• 1 year ago

Can someone help me with the filters? What’s the best way to search and filter/return only full case texts? I keep getting patents and stuff

Minor49er• 1 year ago

How do I sort the listings? I want to sort by filing date but I don't see the option for sorting. I'm on Firefox Mobile

m348e912• 1 year ago

I don't know how complete this database is.

I couldn't find any hits on the Alec Balwin manslaughter case for shooting and killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.

Maybe it's not in the database because the case was dismissed by the presiding judge?

boppo1• 1 year ago

I feel like a rich, famous person probably has a lawyer/pr team to help scrub stuff.

Full Text Search of US Court records

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