FTC executive director Gabe Roth released this statement after the House Judiciary Committee voted to advance a bill (H.R. 8235) that would make access to federal court records free:

“Passing the Open Courts Act through committee is a major achievement in the fight to bring greater transparency to the most powerful, least accountable part of our government. Even the most hardened partisans can agree that charging members of the public for access to public records is nonsense.

“We are now one step closer to the democratization of court records and to the paywall’s glorious demise. Onward to the House floor.”