Google Scholar Providing Court Decisions Free to the Public

Internet search giant Google through Google Scholar is starting an online war with the largest legal websites LexisNexis and Westlaw by offering anyone free searches and access to the full text of state, district, and appellate court decisions. LexisNexis and Westlaw are subscription based legal research services. According to Google, Google Scholar will give average citizens free access to learn how the court rulings are made in relation to the laws that govern the citizens of the United States.

Google is giving to the people what the federal and state government should have been providing citizens all along since the evolution of the Internet. Why should citizens have to pay via a subscription service to obtain legal rulings and documents? Citizens should not have to pay since the judicial system is paid for by taxpayer money and should be free according to any public record requests.

The courts state that "ignorance is no excuse not to know the law", but how would citizens know without having free access to the laws and court rulings of their respective states? The governments preach transparency of business to citizens, election after election, but the funny thing is that a private company named Google is the only party stepping up and offering the information to anyone.

Personally, if any federal or state government tried to create a system for allowing citizens free access to such legal documents it would be filled with bureaucracy. Trying to get information from any government agency is like pulling teeth because you'll be routed to many different departments and employees.

Federal and state governments should be prepared to provide all government related business documents free to the public in the coming years. Citizens have been kept in the dark for so long and it's about time that "we" demand access to such records that affect our lives.

Google Scholar will open doors that have been shut by our governments and help educate our citizens on how laws and court decisions are made in each state of the United States.

Westlaw, Findlaw, LexisNexis may be in big trouble when Google Scholar opens the doors to free information that should already be made available by our inefficient governments.

Sources:
Google.com