Should PACER Fees Pay for Flat-screens?

Say the government used money paid to access court information to buy flat-screen monitors — would that violate federal law?

That’s the accusation in a lawsuit against the United States of America, that takes aim specifically at the U.S. Administrative Office and its Public Access to Court Records Electronic System, otherwise known as PACER.

The lawsuit claims that the U.S.A.O. violated the E-Government Act of 2002 by overcharging for public court records and using the extra revenue to subsidize other projects — “a mission creep that only grew worse over time.”

The evidence laid out in the complaint:

“Judge William Smith (a member of the Judicial Conference’s Committee ...