Info about "Sealed Indictments" (QRV)

submitted ago by 2854463?

As a lawfag and advisor to law enforcement, here is something everyone should consider:

  1. The long list of sealed case files are not necessarily indictments.

  2. Most are, in fact, probably search warrants.

  3. Search warrants generally must be served on the person being searched (and/or suspect) at the time the search is conducted.

  4. HOWEVER, for electronic surveillance (wiretaps, stingray and GPS trackers, email/text/browsing histories) and on RARE OCCASIONS actual physical searches may be conducted surreptitiously, keeping the person/suspect unaware of the search, if the government petitions for such based on good cause to believe that either evidence will be destroyed or the suspect will abscond from prosecution.

  5. The secrecy is time-limited, but the government can continue to maintain those items under seal by renewing the petitions until the court determines that the items should be un-sealed or the government determines that the secrecy should be ended.

So:

A. Are there 60k indictments? Probably not, and there's no way to tell. It's extremely likely that there are significantly more than 1,000, though. However, there is a HUGE number of search warrants. Hmmmm...

B. So, what does the publicly known information tell us? Well, correlate the locations of the cases with the statutes related to the sealed cases. That should tell you A LOT.

Have a nice day.

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15046903? ago

I thought the number of indictments came from a pace search for “sealed indictments”, meaning only sealed indictments would pop up? Likewise one could search for “search warrants” and get a number for that? Is my understanding here wrong?

15047072? ago

Nope, there is no way to search for sealed indictments or search warrants. PACER only reports case files. You count the number that are sealed, but there is nothing in the information you get back to tell you whether it's a warrant, indictment or something else. It only tells you it's a case file, that it's under seal, and that it's either pending or closed.

Anybody who tells you anything different is not a PACER user.

15047104? ago

But it is true that this search in previous years shows an average of 1-2 thousand results and the last 12 months shows 60k right?

15047227? ago

Yep. I'm not trying to minimize the situation. The number of Fed indictments is not 50-60k, but it's still MASSIVE.

And it's also possible there are 50-60k indictments total. Remember PACER doesn't cover the States. State info is almost impossible to track for most people b/c the State records systems are all different, and not all are super-automated.

And, of course, I've neglected to mention military stuff - I don't know whether PACER is the system used for military courts. I suppose it may be (makes sense) but it doesn't look like anyone is tracking that.

15047317? ago

Thank u lawfag. U r a patriot.

15047348? ago

My pleasure. Glad that some folks appreciate it ;)