Nature of suit codes in appellate cases
Barry
(according to PACER for my circuit, from what I remember because PACER
is down now) and three in trial court cases. For appellate cases,
there's an extra digit prefixed to the code and the corresponding text
(such as "Freedom of Information Act") may appear for more than one
number (for example, 2895 and 3895 are both Freedom of Information Act
codes). Where can I find the exact meaning of each appellate Nature of
Suit code so I'll know the difference between 2895 and 3896?
Mike Jacobs
Isn't that printed for you on your computer screen, right there in the
instructions on the webpage telling you to make that choice?
Barry, apparently your question has to do with the PACER ("Public
Access to Court Electronic Records") system itself, not with the Rules
of any particular Court or any other statutorily- or regulatorily-
determined "assignment" of particular codes to particular meanings by
law. AFAIK this is something totally intended for PACER's own
statistical and record-keeping purposes and the 4-digit "codes" were
probably arbitrarily chosen by whoever programmed PACER. PACER is
simply a _computer_database_ used by the Federal courts nationwide, to
keep track of their dockets and filings and make them accessible to
the public and to lawyers.
I'm not going to try to log onto PACER just to try to figure out what
you're talking about, Barry. I suggest you reply on this thread and
tell us EXACTLY what words are used, on the PACER page you are
referring to, to describe (a) the PURPOSE of the selection you are
being required to make. I presume by "Nature of Suit" you mean they
just want a general description of the type of suit so the clerks can
assign it to the appropriate judge or docket or maybe consolidate it
with other similar appeals, but please tell us the _exact_ language
that appears in the instructions which tell you to make a choice from
the list of following options.
Then tell us (b) all the CHOICES that are made available to you to
pick from - not just the number codes, which are meaningless apart
from their arbitrary selection by the PACER database designer, but the
exact language of the _description_ of each, as given in that list.
Perhaps you should also tell us (c) what it is about the "nature of
your case" that makes it hard for _you_ to pick between 2 similar
options to describe it. Then, _maybe_, we can help you figure out
which option you should choose.
Please let me add, although you will probably ignore it, that your
time would be better spent learning how to write a real brief, rather
than obsessing over the choice between two computer codes that are so
similar in meaning it probably won't make any real difference which
you choose? You've got a lot of reading to do, Barry.
--
This posting is for discussion purposes, not professional advice.
Anything you post on this Newsgroup is public information.
I am not your lawyer, and you are not my client in any specific legal
matter.
For confidential professional advice, consult your own lawyer in a
private communication.
Mike Jacobs
LAW OFFICE OF W. MICHAEL JACOBS
10440 Little Patuxent Pkwy #300
Columbia, MD 21044
(tel) 410-740-5685 (fax) 410-740-4300
Barry
> On Apr 20, 1:06 am, Barry <ba...@polisource.com> wrote:
>
> > Where can I find the exact meaning of each appellate Nature of
>
> Isn't that printed for you on your computer screen, right there in the
> instructions on the webpage telling you to make that choice?
No.
> I suggest you reply on this thread and
> tell us EXACTLY what words are used, on the PACER page you are
> referring to
See http://www.polisource.com/misc/pacer-advanced-search.html
> (a) the PURPOSE of the selection you are
> being required to make...
To search cases. I'm not filing.
> Then tell us (b) all the CHOICES...
See http://www.polisource.com/misc/pacer-nature-of-suit.txt for a
plain-text list of the Nature of Suit choices.
> Perhaps you should also tell us (c) what it is about the "nature of
> your case" that makes it hard for _you_ to pick between 2 similar
> options to describe it. Then, _maybe_, we can help you figure out
> which option you should choose.
I wanted to see a jurisdictional statement for a FOIA case (which I
found elsewhere). Before I discovered that PACER shows no Second
Circuit FOIA cases before 2010 (!), I wanted as wide a pre-2010 search
as possible, which meant searching the source code of the search page
for all instances of "FOIA." The HTML Nature of Suit box is too hard
to look through on the web page and can't be searched with my browser.
The option I needed to choose was every FOIA option. If I knew there
was one for interlocutory appeals I wouldn't have chosen it, so it
would have helped to know. I don't know if I'll ever need to know in
the future.
I apologize in advance for spending time on something that I may not
need to know in the future. I understand the risks involved in this
and discussed it with several spiritual leaders.
> Please let me add, although you will probably ignore it...
But thanks for your help.
Bob
wrote:
According to one document I found on the web, the first digit is a
"jurisdiction code."
I couldn't find a listing anywhere of the codes.
So, I e-mailed Pacer, and this is what they said the codes mean:
1 - USA is a plaintiff
2 - USA is a defendant
3 - Private law suit
4 - Diversity
5 - Local - state issue
Barry
> According to one document I found on the web, the first digit is a
> "jurisdiction code."
>
> http://www.law.umich.edu/facultyhome/margoschlanger/Documents/Publica...
Thanks. That document lists the codes and their meanings on pages 25
and 109, but it says that 3 means "Federal Question" not "Private law
suit." Maybe it changed. Too bad PACER couldn't refer you to a
document.
The document also says "for those civil actions where more than one of
the jurisdictional codes specified below can be applied, the
preference should be in the order listed." Codes 2 (USA defendant) and
3 are used for FOIA cases. In my case I'm suing a federal agency and
code 3 is being used. Maybe PACER does things differently.