New Program Expands Free Public Access to Nebraska Court Records in Law School Libraries

Until recently, free public access to case searches in JUSTICE (trial court) and SCCALES (Supreme Court and Court of Appeals) was only available at kiosks located in the courthouses and in the Nebraska State Law Library.  But in October 2024, the JUSTICE Access Initiative working group of the Access to Justice Commission launched a six-month pilot program that will allow free public access to JUSTICE and SCCALES from designated desktop computers located in the law libraries of both Nebraska law schools. The law libraries at the University of Nebraska College of Law and Creighton University School of Law are open to the public, and library staff will be available to support patrons with expanded access to JUSTICE and SCCALES.

Data collected from the initial six-month pilot period will be evaluated by the JUSTICE Access Initiative working group, comprised of Justice Stephanie Stacy (Nebraska Supreme Court), Josh Shasserre (Clerk of the Nebraska Supreme Court and Court of Appeals), Maureen Eck (Deputy State Librarian, Nebraska State Law Library), Sherri Dennis (IT Program Director), and Leah Cech (Access to Justice Specialist), who will consider the feasibility of expanding the pilot program to other public libraries across the state.