How would I find a court transcript from the 1920s?

December 1, 2023 12:42 PM

I'm interested in finding the transcript of a lawsuit that was tried in the 1920s. It was in a US Federal District Court - Eastern Division of Michigan. I have a case number and a date. Do these transcripts exist? Is there a physical archive I could go to? Would it be on PACER? (And how does one search on PACER? The Find A Case tab seems to be leading into a few thickets, websites that leave PACER, websites that aren't loading for me...)
posted by lewedswiver to Law & Government (10 answers total)

PACER is a creature of e-filing, which means that (though it does vary by jurisdiction) the records will not go back further than the early 1990s, and in many courts may not even go back into the twentieth century. Older federal court records are held by the National Archive, but exactly what will survive from any given case is unknown.
posted by praemunire at 12:59 PM on December 1, 2023

Law libraries have law librarians.
posted by theora55 at 1:21 PM on December 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

(Most law libraries aren't open to the public, though if OP is located in Michigan, there is some access to the UMich law library for the general public...)
posted by praemunire at 1:42 PM on December 1, 2023

You can also email law librarians. This is definitely a law librarian type of question. Also sometimes there are public law libraries in your area, attached to courthouses: this is especially the case if you live in a somewhat progressive area. WA has some for example.
posted by corb at 3:06 PM on December 1, 2023 [2 favorites]

If it was in 1924 or after, try the links at this page: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/michigan/miedce/

I'm afraid I don't see where they've digitized records from 1923 and prior. Good luck.
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 4:51 PM on December 1, 2023

You also might find some of these links for the Records of the U.S. Circuit and District Courts, Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division (Detroit) in the National Archives useful.
https://www.archives.gov/chicago/finding-aids/courts/us-courts-detroit.html

Though if, by "lawsuit" you mean a civil trial, it looks like this division's records are only accessible back to 1938. But again, until you can talk to a law librarian on Monday, this and the above link might help get you started.
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 4:59 PM on December 1, 2023

If it was in 1924 or after, try the links at this page: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/michigan/miedce/

Those are opinions, not dockets, where a transcript (if it exists) might be.
posted by praemunire at 5:33 PM on December 1, 2023

You can email the Law Library of the State Library of Michigan - contact information here. Answering questions like this for the general public is part of their mission.
posted by fussbudget at 6:25 PM on December 1, 2023

Get in touch with a courthouse library in the relevant location. They're often open to the public, and may be able to help give you information by phone or email.

Reported reasons you may be able to find, but I suspect transcripts might have been uncommon. Even now, when proceedings are recorded, formal transcripts are made from those recordings only when necessary for appeal (in my jurisdiction).
posted by lookoutbelow at 7:20 PM on December 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

Try the National Archives. Transcripts are volumninous and may not have been preserved, though.
posted by haptic_avenger at 6:38 AM on December 2, 2023 [1 favorite]