The type of case: civil, criminal, housing, etc. If you are doing a background search, you may want to search all of the above.

The jurisdiction: state, federal, local. (This tutorial will demonstrate the difference between federal & state cases, from the Federal Judicial Center)

Not everything is online; sometimes you must go to the court to look at the case file.

Juvenile records are usually not available, unless convicted in Supreme Court as an adult – called a “juvenile offender.” Youthful offender records are sealed. Some kids are classified as “juvenile delinquents.” 

A NYS family court case “record of filing” is usually available, but the documents filed in the case are not public. These rules usually apply in most states.

You should also be familiar with civil court procedure and to have a sense of how the criminal justice system works, and the criminal court process.

Have your students review Parts 1 and 2 of this lesson before class, including the NYS Criminal and Civil court structure flow charts.

NYS Courts glossary of legal terms (see also the Manhattan DA’s Glossary of Legal Terms). Important terms from this site include:

• jurisdiction: the geographical, subject matter, and monetary limitations of a court, dictates whether the case is: Civil or Criminal – State or Federal – Misdemeanor or Felony – Etc.
• index number: a number issued by the county clerk, which is used to identify a case.
• docket: a document which summarizes a case, provides a list of actions/events in a case
• caption: in a pleading, deposition or other paper connected with a case in court, it is the heading or introductory clause which shows the names of the parties, name of the court, number of the case on the docket or calendar, etc
• complaint: initial pleading in an action formally setting forth the facts and reasons on which the demand for relief is based. In a civil case, a plaintiff files the complaint. In a criminal case that is a misdemeanor, the state files the complaint. In felony criminal cases, the grand jury indicts the defendant
• answer: a paper submitted by a defendant in a civil case in which s/he responds to and/or denies the allegations of the plaintiff
• plaintiff: the party bringing a civil action
• pleadings: complaint or petition, answer, and reply
• motion: an oral or written request to the court made by a party for a ruling or order

Not all documents are available online and nothing beats going to the courthouse and viewing the case file. 

Tell students that you will demonstrate navigating these court records databases using Steven Croman as a search example and display this article in class. Notorious criminal landlord Steve Croman faces claims from more than 100 tenants in East Harlem building, NY Daily News.

NYS Civil Court Cases

NYS Courts Electronic Filing System: sign in as a guest and access civil court docket and electronically filed documents in the Supreme Court, Court of Claims, Surrogate’s Court. Searches by party names and case numbers.

Demo for class: Instructor should demo the database by searching for Steven Croman in the search by Name tab, and then click on the link for this case:

Case# 450545/2016: The People of the State of New York by Eric T. Schneiderman, Attorney General of the State of New York – v. – Steven Croman et al. This is the link to the docket for the case. Remember a case docket is a summary of everything that happened in the case with the corresponding documents attached. 

In civil cases, the most useful documents to read are the complaint or petition, and the answer, which give you the facts alleged by the parties in the case. Exhibits, motions to dismiss and any orders are also important to look read. 

Get used to skimming large documents for interesting info, even though it may seem tedious. The journalist who has the patience to do that will dig up information others won’t find.

Review these documents in class as well as the facts in the case alleged by both sides and how it might inform your reporting.

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Other places to find NYS Civil court cases online. 

eCourts goes back to the 1980s and will show you the filing information, case #, parties, but most documents are not available. In eCourts you can search WebCivil Local & Web Civil Supreme. Civil Supreme handles civil cases over $25,000 and hears medical malpractice cases, labor law disputes, motor vehicle cases, and other torts. 

SCROLL has Supreme Court civil case documents for cases in New York County.

Bronx County Clerk’s Office (civil case lookup), search as a Guest, it has case documents online. 

King’s County Clerk’s Office you can find case record info, but no documents online.

NexisUni has selected state cases under the US Legal bar on the left, then click “federal & state cases” link.

NYS Civil Court Cases

NYS Courts Electronic Filing System: sign in as a guest and access civil court docket and electronically filed documents in the Supreme Court, Court of Claims, Surrogate’s Court. Searches by party names and case numbers.

Demo for class: Instructor should demo the database by searching for Steven Croman in the search by Name tab, and then click on the link for this case:

Case# 450545/2016: The People of the State of New York by Eric T. Schneiderman, Attorney General of the State of New York – v. – Steven Croman et al. This is the link to the docket for the case. Remember a case docket is a summary of everything that happened in the case with the corresponding documents attached. 

In civil cases, the most useful documents to read are the complaint or petition, and the answer, which give you the facts alleged by the parties in the case. Exhibits, motions to dismiss and any orders are also important to look read. 

Get used to skimming large documents for interesting info, even though it may seem tedious. The journalist who has the patience to do that will dig up information others won’t find.

Review these documents in class as well as the facts in the case alleged by both sides and how it might inform your reporting.

Other places to find NYS Civil court cases online. 

eCourts goes back to the 1980s and will show you the filing information, case #, parties, but most documents are not available. In eCourts you can search WebCivil Local & Web Civil Supreme. Civil Supreme handles civil cases over $25,000 and hears medical malpractice cases, labor law disputes, motor vehicle cases, and other torts. 

SCROLL has Supreme Court civil case documents for cases in New York County.

Bronx County Clerk’s Office (civil case lookup), search as a Guest, it has case documents online. 

King’s County Clerk’s Office you can find case record info, but no documents online.

NexisUni has selected state cases under the US Legal bar on the left, then click “federal & state cases” link.

NYS Criminal Court Cases

Only pending criminal cases are listed in WebCrims.

NYC Inmate search NYC Dept of Corrections – will find current and recently held inmates, in NYC jails.

NYS inmate search from NYS Dept of Corrections, search for inmates in NYS facilities going back to the 1970s.

Search NYS Attorney General Press Releases search this page for Steven Croman.

Search by possible defendant name or company in The Manhattan DA Page, Brooklyn (Kings) DA Page, Bronx DA, Richmond DA, Queens DA  

New York Statewide criminal history record search For a $95 fee. Results are verified, reviewed, amended, if necessary, and emailed to our customers the following business day. Here are details of what you will find in a NYS Criminal History Report, from the NYS Criminal Justice Division. 

NexisUni may have selected state criminal cases.

Question for students: Why do you think that NYS doesn’t make all of the Criminal Records readily available? 

Additional info:

Criminal Court Basics from NYCourts

A walk through the Criminal Justice System for Adults in NYS, from the NYS Office of Mental Health

Play this trailer in class. It is for the documentary film Off the Rails, about Darius McCollum, “a man with Asperger’s syndrome whose overwhelming love of transit has landed him in jail 32 times for impersonating New York City bus drivers and subway conductors and driving their routes.” You can rent the film on iTunes or stream it on Sundance Now.

Mr. McCollum is a good example of a defendant/inmate for students to practice court records searching. They can follow his story through civil and criminal case records and filings in many of the tools and databases in this lesson.

Have your students search Darious McCollum or McCollum, Darius in the Bronx County Clerk database and/or NexisUni and discuss what they found.

NYS Criminal Court Cases

Only pending criminal cases are listed in WebCrims.

NYC Inmate search NYC Dept of Corrections – will find current and recently held inmates, in NYC jails.

NYS inmate search from NYS Dept of Corrections, search for inmates in NYS facilities goeing back to the 1970s.

Search NYS Attorney General Press Releases search this page for Steven Croman

Search by possible defendant name or company in the The Manhattan DA Page, Brooklyn (Kings) DA Page, Bronx DA, Richmond DA, Queens DA  

New York Statewide criminal history record search For a $95 fee. Results are verified, reviewed, amended, if necessary, and emailed to our customers the following business day. Here are details of what you will find in a NYS Criminal History Report, from the NYS Criminal Justice Division. 

NexisUni may have selected state criminal cases.

Question for students: Why do you think that NYS doesn’t make all of the Criminal Records readily available? 

Additional info:

Criminal Court Basics from NYCourts

A walk through the Criminal Justice System for Adults in NYS, from the NYS Office of Mental Health

All NYS attorneys must register with the unified court system, here is the search page NYS Attorney Directory which includes full name, phone, email and address for an attorney.

PACER provides online access to the docket and most documents filed in both criminal and civil federal cases. Almost all federal cases are available on PACER, but the court decides which documents to make available publicly.

*Instructors: ask your school library liaison for the journalism program if your library has or can get a PACER account, which students may be able to access on-site in the library.  Here is a PACER Tipsheet.

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As an alternative, students can search the RECAP archive database which has millions of PACER documents and dockets. Install the free RECAP extensions for Firefox and Chrome to contribute to this archive every time you download a PACER document.

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Federal inmate search Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate lookup site.

Search PACER, RECAP/CourtListener or NexisUni for any cases involving Darius McCollum.

Have students answer these three brief concluding reflection questions on paper or through an online service like Socrative:

3. Write down three takeaways from this lesson;

2. Write down two questions you still have after this lesson;

1. Write down the one thing you enjoyed the most about this lesson.