govinfo:USCOURTS-pawd-2_09-mc-00239-33

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA 
 
IN RE: PACER FEE EXEPMTIONS ) 
 ) Misc. No. 2:09-239 
 CODY PLANTE, ) 
 (PACER Account xxxx070), ) 
 Movant. ) 
 
 ORDER 
 
 
This matter is befor e the C ourt upon the A pplication by Cody Plante (“Plante”) for 
exemption from the fees imposed by the Electronic Public Access fee schedule adopte d by the 
Judicial Conference of the U nited States Courts for acces s, via the Pu blic Access to Court 
Electronic Records system (the “PACER System”), to the electronic case files maintained by this 
Court. (ECF No. 154, the “ Application”). For the reasons th at follow, Plante ’s Application is 
denied, without prejudice. 
 First, this Court is unable to confirm that Pla nte is an individua l researcher associated 
with an educational institution , thus placing him within the class of users who are eligible for a 
fee exemption. The email address that Plante includes on his Application does not associate him 
with Dartmouth College. An independent search of the institution’s website identifies a Cody M. 
Plante as a member of the college’ s Project Management Services department, speciali zing in 
sustainability and strategic planning , and as a “ coordinator” for Peter Ulric Tse , a Professor of 
Psychological and Brain Sciences at Dartmouth whose lab work focuses on consciousness and its 
neural bases. It is unclear from the information provided in the Application whether “Cody M. 
Plante” is the same individual who filed the Application . But even i f he is , thus establishing a 
connection with Dartmouth College, these positions do not logically intersect with the research 
project described in the Application. Plante has not explained his s tatus with the academic 

2 
 
institution other than to state that he is “a researcher” and indicate that he is working with other 
researchers on a project. 
Second, the Application does not establish that the project for which Plante seeks an 
exemption is a scholarly research project, rather than a commercial endeavor. The Application 
describes the project as being aimed at creating a “software tool that uses machine learning 
algorithms to categori ze and identify instances of specified behaviors ” with the stated goal “ to 
help organizations identify and address ha te speech, sexu al harassment, and other harmful acts 
within their controlled communication systems, such as email, Slack, etc. ” (ECF #154 at 5). 
While decreasing occurrences of hate speech and h arassment in society is a laudable goal that 
serves the public interest as a general matter, identification of a worthy goal does not make the 
project a scholarly research project that is eligible for an exemption from the payment of PACER 
fees. 
Therefore, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Application is DENIED and Plante is not 
eligible for the PACER Fee exemption based upon the information provided in the Application. 
 
Dated: August 1, 2024 BY THE COURT: 
 
 /s/ Mark R. Hornak 
 Mark R. Hornak 
 Chief United States District Judge 
 
 
cc: PACER Service Center (via email) 
 Administrative Office of the United States Courts, 
 Multi-Court Exemptions Office (via email) 
 Cody Plante (via email) 

Passage view · GavelSight