Former U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman—the prime sponsor of the E-Government Act of 2002—filed an amicus brief supporting a summary judgment motion against the U.S. Department of Justice over fees it charges to access electronic court records.

At issue is a federal lawsuit accusing the judiciary of charging fees exceeding the necessary rate to maintain the Public Access to Court Electronic Records system. PACER has charged users 10 cents per page to view court records online since 2012, with a maximum charge of $3 per document.

The brief filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Tuesday on behalf of Lieberman and U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, claims Lieberman, who served four terms representing Connecticut in the U.S. Senate and is a former chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, “is uniquely situated” to weigh in on the controversy. Lieberman agrees with the plaintiffs that “the judiciary's practice of charging PACER fees for access to public information that far exceed the cost of providing that information is contrary to the intent of the [E-Government] act.”