Source: The Reconstruction Era Blog
Seeking Legal Expertise: Remote Case Review for Immigrant Habeas Petitions
Habeas Dockets is seeking volunteers from the legal community to help us create a public window into immigrant habeas corpus proceedings. Due to federal court rules restricting remote access (FRCP 5.2(c)), a vital area of public interest litigation remains largely hidden from view. Your legal skills can directly address this transparency gap.
We have two critical, distinct needs where your expertise would be invaluable:
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Remote Case Review (Anywhere in the U.S.): This is a substantive, remote-first opportunity perfect for law students, paralegals, attorneys, and academics. Case review involves analyzing dockets and court orders on our website to identify the most significant documents for retrieval. It is detail-oriented work that forms the foundation of our collection efforts. We provide comprehensive guidelines and support to help you effectively navigate the cases.
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In-Person Document Retrieval (Location-Specific): For those located near federal courthouses, we continue to need volunteers to retrieve documents from clerk’s offices. This work is the essential step in making these records accessible to the public. We have a particular need for volunteers in New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Nebraska, Vermont and Ohio.
About Habeas Dockets:
The need for this work has grown urgent. The second Trump administration has adopted highly aggressive immigration enforcement tactics—often violating due process rights or other legal safeguards. For those affected, the primary means to challenge these actions is through habeas corpus petitions in federal district court.
However, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2(c) limits remote electronic access to immigration-related filings. Although these filings are technically public, they are accessible only in person at courthouse terminals. This restriction undermines timely public oversight and limits accountability.
Habeas Dockets addresses this gap by coordinating volunteers to retrieve these documents from courthouses nationwide, scan them, review them for authenticity and confidentiality, and make them publicly accessible online.
Your printing costs are reimbursed. Visit the site to see a map of 2500+ cases, review their dockets and read case documents from among the hundreds of cases we have published, and to learn more about how you can help this important and worthwhile cause.
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Wow, what a great pro bono opportunity. And my continuing thanks to and endless admiration for John Cronan for pioneering this innovative, timely, and much-needed resource!
⚖️🗽Due Process Forever!
PWS
10-10-25
