PA courts scraper

[josh-chamberlain]

Context

existing case search: https://ujsportal.pacourts.us/CaseSearch
endpoint: only sharing with engaged volunteers

The overall goal is to create infrastructure to help people answer questions using this complex data source

Initial work required

• initial scraper hitting the endpoint for specific cases (closed by pa court scraper issue #239 #241)
• enhance the basic scraper with rate limiting to govern all requests
• give CLI users more options for getting cases with a workflow like this:
  • run the script
  • enter an argument like start date and n number of cases to get
  • script iterates through available cases until it finds n cases by docket number (reasonable timeout)
  • Prompt: "Scrape details for n cases?" (Y/n)
• given a batch of cases (~100 or 200), perform exploratory analysis to try to map out a reasonable schema

next milestone

• refine our parsing strategy + schema
• create automation to collect cases daily based on some criteria; perhaps using a particular type of case as a trigger based on the questions below
• ? further development TBD based on our findings

Risks

• we don't want to abuse the endpoint and see it closed
• we don't want to make a database of criminalized people
  • court cases are already public record, available on the PA courts website, already searchable by name. even creating something like maryland's case explorer would not make these more searchable.
  • we can work to make names and addresses anonymized, less searchable in aggregate

How to start

• reach out to me for the endpoint
• we'll devise a strategy for the scraper
• for initial testing, 1 request every few seconds would let you get started and grab 5 cases without waiting around
• There are fancy ways to rotate IPs and stuff, but we can consider that later.
• treat the endpoint as an environment variable for now

Related questions

All of these concern Allegheny County; we believe all of them can only be answered with the aid of court docket analysis.

• What are the common types of charges faced by those inside Allegheny County Jail (e.g. drug charges, assault, theft, etc.)
• What is the average and/or median bail amount assigned?
• How many people are inside Allegheny County Jail because they were unable to pay bail?
• Is there any info on what charges are being denied bail?
• How many probation holds are technical violations and how many are suspicion of a new offense?
• What are the most common charges faced by youth?
• Looking for bulk court cases to evaluate court of common pleas judges by their probation detainer history
• What judges are upholding probation detainers, and for how long?
• We're trying to find information about cases where people are being held for US Marshals, ICE, or the Department of Homeland Security. They are detained at the ACJ, so we should be able to find the names of the people being held on probation detainer or find references to them in court information.
• Juvenile incarceration plea deals: the rate at which juveniles are being charged as adults

[michaeldepace]

@josh-chamberlain I talked with Max Chis and I'm interested in working through this issue. I'll message you on discord asking for the endpoint.

[josh-chamberlain]

@michaeldepace thanks! I shared details via DM, but putting here too:

For starters, we would want to do a scraper in the scrapers repository, which writes to CSV or JSON or SQLite or something depending on what’s convenient for you. Once it works locally and seems to do what it needs to, we can worry about scale and stuff. For this case I’m not sure how often we need it to run.

This is a complicated one—let me know if you want to chat or need anything!

[josh-chamberlain]

We got some info from a person who used a different endpoint previously to create a database with these tables:

Cases Defendants Case Calendar Confinements Offenses Bails Officers Police Departments Judges Courts Record counts

Here's some edited explanation:

Keep in mind that while filing date, docket number, court office, and short caption (plaintiff v. defendant) are available from the overview for all cases, and municipalities and zip codes of participants are usually (though not always) on the docket sheets, exact addresses are not publicly available.

Also keep in mind that while the fields present in the overview all fit neatly into a table with one string per field, the data from the docket sheets does not.

Each entry in the SQLite file is a python defaultdict.  This was necessary since many of the fields in the docket are nested, of variable length, and need to be incrementally modified each time the docket sheet is scraped.  When most of the rest of the system, including the overview entries for each case, was converted to use postgres SQL, I was not able to figure out a workable way of putting the data in the defaultdicts into a postgres table.  Accessing the data in mdj_docket_cases.db SQLite file would, I expect, be possible but require you to use SqliteDict and defaultdict from python 3.

It may be simpler to select docket numbers of interest and then use the PAeDocket web API for whatever details you want.

In case it might be helpful, I have included an example of what overview data (docket_table) vs the parsed docket sheet data (cases_table) for a random case look like in a python notebook vs what the PAeDocket web API returns.  Note that the docket_table entries are not updated after the overview is initially scraped, so those are only valid as of the date in the 'Scrape Date' field, and that the data in docket_table (but not cases_table) is available in the postgres DB.

example docket table and cases table

docket_table['MJ-05213-LT-0000011-2021']
{'Docket Number': 'MJ-05213-LT-0000011-2021',
 'Court Office': 'MDJ-05-2-13',
 'Short Caption': 'McKeesport Housing Authority  v.  Gray, Lakisha',
 'Filing Date': '01/14/2021',
 'County': 'Allegheny',
 'Case Status': 'Active',
 'Primary Participants': 'Gray, Lakisha',
 'Docket Sheet': 'MDJReport.ashx?docketNumber=MJ-05213-LT-0000011-2021&dnh=3%2fMAc8Dx57gJeXaRgs23oA%3d%3d',
 'Scrape Date': datetime.datetime(2021, 1, 19, 19, 45, 16, 205472, tzinfo=<DstTzInfo 'America/New_York' EST-1 day, 19:00:00 STD>)}

cases_table['MJ-05213-LT-0000011-2021']
{'Case Info': {'Judge Assigned': 'Magisterial District Judge Eugene F. Riazzi Jr.',
  'File Date': '01/14/2021',
  'Claim Amount': '$8,929.00',
  'Case Status': 'Closed',
  'Judgment Amount': '$9,135.35',
  'County': 'Allegheny'},
 'Participants': [{'Participant Type': 'Plaintiff',
   'Participant Name': 'McKeesport Housing Authority',
   'Address': 'McKeesport, PA 15132'},
  {'Participant Type': 'Defendant',
   'Participant Name': 'Gray, Lakisha',
   'Address': 'McKeesport, PA 15132'}],
 'Disposition Summary': [{'Docket Number': 'MJ-05213-LT-0000011-2021',
   'Plaintiff': 'McKeesport Housing Authority',
   'Defendant': 'Lakisha Gray',
   'Disposition': 'Judgment for Plaintiff',
   'Disposition Date': '03/16/2021'}],
 'Civil Disposition Details': {'Grant possession.': 'Yes',
  'Grant possession if money judgment is not satisfied by the time of eviction.': 'No'},
 'Civil Disposition': {'Disposition Date': '03/16/2021',
  'Monthly Rent': '$773.00',
  'Judgment': [{'Defendant(s)': 'Lakisha Gray',
    'Plaintiff(s)': 'McKeesport Housing Authority',
    'Disposition': 'Judgment for Plaintiff',
    'Joint/Several Liability': '$0.00',
    'Individual Liability': '$9,135.35',
    'Net Judgment': '$9,135.35'}],
  'Judgment Components': [{'Type': 'Rent in Arrears',
    'Amount': '$8,929.00',
    'Deposit Amount': '$0.00',
    'Adjusted Amount': '$8,929.00'},
   {'Type': 'Costs',
    'Amount': '$206.35',
    'Deposit Amount': '$0.00',
    'Adjusted Amount': '$206.35'}]},
 'Docket Entry Info': [{'Filed Date': '03/16/2021',
   'Entry': 'Judgment for Plaintiff',
   'Filer': 'Magisterial District Court 05-2-13',
   'Applies To': 'Lakisha Gray, Defendant'},
  {'Filed Date': '03/16/2021',
   'Entry': 'Judgment Entered',
   'Filer': 'Magisterial District Court 05-2-13',
   'Applies To': 'Lakisha Gray, Defendant'},
  {'Filed Date': '01/14/2021',
   'Entry': 'Landlord/Tenant Complaint Filed',
   'Filer': 'McKeesport Housing Authority'}],
 'Calendar Events': [{'Case Calendar Event Type': 'Recovery of Real Property Hearing',
   'Schedule Start Date': '01/26/2021',
   'Start Time': '8:30 am',
   'Judge Name': 'Magisterial District Judge Eugene F. Riazzi Jr.',
   'Schedule Status': 'Continued'},
  {'Case Calendar Event Type': 'Recovery of Real Property Hearing',
   'Schedule Start Date': '03/16/2021',
   'Start Time': '8:30 am',
   'Judge Name': 'Magisterial District Judge Eugene F. Riazzi Jr.',
   'Schedule Status': 'Scheduled'}],
 'Parse Date': datetime.datetime(2022, 8, 15, 20, 49, 47, 569710, tzinfo=<DstTzInfo 'America/New_York' EDT-1 day, 20:00:00 DST>),
 'Docket Number': 'MJ-05213-LT-0000011-2021',
 'County': 'Allegheny',
 'Court Office': 'MDJ-05-2-13',
 'Filing Date': '01/14/2021',
 'metadata': {'Docket Number': 'MJ-05213-LT-0000011-2021',
  'Court Office': 'MDJ-05-2-13',
  'Short Caption': 'McKeesport Housing Authority  v.  Gray, Lakisha',
  'Filing Date': '01/14/2021',
  'County': 'Allegheny',
  'Case Status': 'Active',
  'Primary Participants': 'Gray, Lakisha',
  'Docket Sheet': 'MDJReport.ashx?docketNumber=MJ-05213-LT-0000011-2021&dnh=3%2fMAc8Dx57gJeXaRgs23oA%3d%3d',
  'Scrape Date': datetime.datetime(2021, 1, 19, 19, 45, 16, 205472, tzinfo=<DstTzInfo 'America/New_York' EST-1 day, 19:00:00 STD>)}}

corresponding raw JSON

{"href":"https://services.pacourts.us/public/v1/cases/MJ-05213-LT-0000011-2021","actualReceivedDate":null,"arrestDate":null,"claimAmount":8929.0,"docketNumber":"MJ-05213-LT-0000011-2021","shortCaption":"McKeesport Housing Authority  v.  Gray, Lakisha","longCaptionLines":["McKeesport Housing Authority","  v.","Lakisha  Gray"],"caseFlags":[],"complaintDate":null,"currentProgramStatus":"","dispositionDate":"2021-03-16T00:00:00-04:00","docketedDate":null,"filingDate":"2021-01-14T10:48:00-05:00","initiationDate":"2021-01-14T10:48:00-05:00","initiatingDocumentName":null,"isNebbiaInEffect":false,"isSealedRecord":false,"lastPaymentDateTime":"2021-01-14T10:53:03-05:00","lowerCourtApplealFilingDate":null,"lowerCourtAppealFilingDate":null,"orderApplicationDate":null,"orderType":null,"originatingDocketNumbers":null,"primaryLtn":null,"primaryOtn":null,"primaryPoliceIncidentNo":null,"rootOriginatingDocumentNumber":null,"statusName":"Closed","totalLastPayment":-208.58,"assessmentGrandTotals":{"currentBalance":0.0,"totalAdjustments":0.0,"totalAssessments":208.58,"totalNonMonetary":0.0,"totalPayments":-208.58,"assessmentCategoryTotals":[{"category":"Costs/Fees","currentBalance":0.0,"totalAdjustments":0.0,"totalAssessments":187.48,"totalNonMonetary":0.0,"totalPayments":-187.48,"assessments":[{"assessmentDateTime":"2021-01-14T00:00:00-05:00","category":"Costs/Fees","currentBalance":0.0,"isSubrogated":false,"totalAdjustments":0.0,"totalAssessments":6.0,"totalNonMonetary":0.0,"totalPayments":-6.0,"type":"ATJ - Case","transactions":[{"amount":6.0,"receiptDateTime":null,"receiptNumber":null,"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1215976590"}},{"amount":-6.0,"receiptDateTime":"2021-01-14T10:53:03-05:00","receiptNumber":"05213-2021-R0000205","id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1215977473"}}],"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":884611871}},{"assessmentDateTime":"2021-01-14T00:00:00-05:00","category":"Costs/Fees","currentBalance":0.0,"isSubrogated":false,"totalAdjustments":0.0,"totalAssessments":2.5,"totalNonMonetary":0.0,"totalPayments":-2.5,"type":"CJES - Case","transactions":[{"amount":2.5,"receiptDateTime":null,"receiptNumber":null,"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1215976591"}},{"amount":-2.5,"receiptDateTime":"2021-01-14T10:53:03-05:00","receiptNumber":"05213-2021-R0000205","id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1215977474"}}],"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":884611872}},{"assessmentDateTime":"2021-01-14T00:00:00-05:00","category":"Costs/Fees","currentBalance":0.0,"isSubrogated":false,"totalAdjustments":0.0,"totalAssessments":65.35,"totalNonMonetary":0.0,"totalPayments":-65.35,"type":"Civil Filing - Commonwealth Cost - HB627 (Act 167 of 1992)","transactions":[{"amount":65.35,"receiptDateTime":null,"receiptNumber":null,"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1215976592"}},{"amount":-65.35,"receiptDateTime":"2021-01-14T10:53:03-05:00","receiptNumber":"05213-2021-R0000205","id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1215977481"}}],"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":884611873}},{"assessmentDateTime":"2021-01-14T00:00:00-05:00","category":"Costs/Fees","currentBalance":0.0,"isSubrogated":false,"totalAdjustments":0.0,"totalAssessments":74.65,"totalNonMonetary":0.0,"totalPayments":-74.65,"type":"Filing Fee (Civil)","transactions":[{"amount":74.65,"receiptDateTime":null,"receiptNumber":null,"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1215976593"}},{"amount":-74.65,"receiptDateTime":"2021-01-14T10:53:03-05:00","receiptNumber":"05213-2021-R0000205","id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1215977482"}}],"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":884611874}},{"assessmentDateTime":"2021-01-14T00:00:00-05:00","category":"Costs/Fees","currentBalance":0.0,"isSubrogated":false,"totalAdjustments":0.0,"totalAssessments":21.25,"totalNonMonetary":0.0,"totalPayments":-21.25,"type":"JCPS - Case","transactions":[{"amount":21.25,"receiptDateTime":null,"receiptNumber":null,"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1215976594"}},{"amount":-21.25,"receiptDateTime":"2021-01-14T10:53:03-05:00","receiptNumber":"05213-2021-R0000205","id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1215977475"}}],"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":884611875}},{"assessmentDateTime":"2021-01-14T00:00:00-05:00","category":"Costs/Fees","currentBalance":0.0,"isSubrogated":false,"totalAdjustments":0.0,"totalAssessments":8.0,"totalNonMonetary":0.0,"totalPayments":-8.0,"type":"Judicial Computer Project - Case","transactions":[{"amount":8.0,"receiptDateTime":null,"receiptNumber":null,"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1215976595"}},{"amount":-8.0,"receiptDateTime":"2021-01-14T10:53:03-05:00","receiptNumber":"05213-2021-R0000205","id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1215977476"}}],"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":884611876}},{"assessmentDateTime":"2021-01-14T00:00:00-05:00","category":"Costs/Fees","currentBalance":0.0,"isSubrogated":false,"totalAdjustments":0.0,"totalAssessments":2.5,"totalNonMonetary":0.0,"totalPayments":-2.5,"type":"OAG - JCP - Case","transactions":[{"amount":2.5,"receiptDateTime":null,"receiptNumber":null,"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1215976596"}},{"amount":-2.5,"receiptDateTime":"2021-01-14T10:53:03-05:00","receiptNumber":"05213-2021-R0000205","id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1215977477"}}],"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":884611877}},{"assessmentDateTime":"2021-01-14T00:00:00-05:00","category":"Costs/Fees","currentBalance":0.0,"isSubrogated":false,"totalAdjustments":0.0,"totalAssessments":5.0,"totalNonMonetary":0.0,"totalPayments":-5.0,"type":"Constable Education Training Act","transactions":[{"amount":5.0,"receiptDateTime":null,"receiptNumber":null,"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1215977127"}},{"amount":-5.0,"receiptDateTime":"2021-01-14T10:53:03-05:00","receiptNumber":"05213-2021-R0000205","id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1215977483"}}],"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":884612105}},{"assessmentDateTime":"2021-01-14T00:00:00-05:00","category":"Costs/Fees","currentBalance":0.0,"isSubrogated":false,"totalAdjustments":0.0,"totalAssessments":2.23,"totalNonMonetary":0.0,"totalPayments":-2.23,"type":"Postage - Case","transactions":[{"amount":2.23,"receiptDateTime":null,"receiptNumber":null,"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1215977160"}},{"amount":-2.23,"receiptDateTime":"2021-01-14T10:53:03-05:00","receiptNumber":"05213-2021-R0000205","id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1215977484"}}],"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":884612136}}]},{"category":"Server Fees","currentBalance":0.0,"totalAdjustments":0.0,"totalAssessments":21.1,"totalNonMonetary":0.0,"totalPayments":-21.1,"assessments":[{"assessmentDateTime":"2021-01-14T00:00:00-05:00","category":"Server Fees","currentBalance":0.0,"isSubrogated":false,"totalAdjustments":0.0,"totalAssessments":21.1,"totalNonMonetary":0.0,"totalPayments":-21.1,"type":"Server Fee","transactions":[{"amount":13.0,"receiptDateTime":null,"receiptNumber":null,"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1215977272"}},{"amount":5.6,"receiptDateTime":null,"receiptNumber":null,"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1215977273"}},{"amount":2.5,"receiptDateTime":null,"receiptNumber":null,"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1215977274"}},{"amount":-13.0,"receiptDateTime":"2021-01-14T10:53:03-05:00","receiptNumber":"05213-2021-R0000205","id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1215977478"}},{"amount":-5.6,"receiptDateTime":"2021-01-14T10:53:03-05:00","receiptNumber":"05213-2021-R0000205","id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1215977479"}},{"amount":-2.5,"receiptDateTime":"2021-01-14T10:53:03-05:00","receiptNumber":"05213-2021-R0000205","id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1215977480"}}],"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":884612199}}]}]},"caseCategory":{"name":"Landlord/Tenant","docketType":{"category":null,"name":"Landlord/Tenant","id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"Landlord/Tenant"}},"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":9}},"county":{"name":"Allegheny","judicialDistrict":{"name":"Allegheny","id":{"caseSystem":"CPCMS","id":"05"}},"id":{"caseSystem":"CPCMS","id":"Allegheny"}},"courtOffice":{"acceptsOnlineBailPayments":true,"acceptsOnlinePayments":true,"allowsPaymentsOnReferredPaymentPlans":false,"courtOfficeType":"MagisterialDistrict","displayName":"Magisterial District Court 05-2-13,  McKeesport","name":"MDJ-05-2-13","officeCode":"MDJ-05-2-13","county":{"name":"Allegheny","judicialDistrict":{"name":"Allegheny","id":{"caseSystem":"CPCMS","id":"05"}},"id":{"caseSystem":"CPCMS","id":"Allegheny"}},"court":{"courtType":"MDJ","displayName":"Magisterial District Court 05-2-13,  McKeesport","name":"MDJ-05-2-13","sortOrder":1,"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"5213"}},"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"5213"}},"currentProcessingStatus":{"processingStatus":"Completed","statusChangeDateTime":"2021-03-16T13:32:00-04:00","id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":883017571}},"finalDispositionRegistryEntry":{"description":null,"documentTitle":null,"documentDateTime":null,"documentNumber":null,"filedDateTime":"2021-03-16T13:32:00-04:00","isSealed":false,"orderExitedDate":null,"registryEntryCode":"Landlord/Tenant Disposition Recorded for All Participants","sequenceNumber":1,"appliesTo":[{"participantRole":"Defendant","participantName":{"displayName":"Gray, Lakisha","documentName":"Lakisha Gray","firstName":"Lakisha","lastName":"Gray","middleName":null,"title":null,"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":718569864}},"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":1166739338}}],"comments":[],"filers":[],"service":[],"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":1186951756}},"latestCaseEvent":{"nextEvent":"Judgment Entered","nextEventDueDateTime":null,"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1194116370"}},"lowerTribunalCategory":{"name":null,"id":null},"municipality":{"name":null,"county":null,"id":null},"nameOfAssignedJudge":{"displayName":"Riazzi, Eugene F. Jr.","documentName":"Magisterial District Judge Eugene F. Riazzi Jr.","firstName":"Eugene","lastName":"Riazzi","middleName":null,"title":"Magisterial District Judge","id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":4821}},"reArgumentDispositionRegistryEntry":{"description":null,"documentTitle":null,"documentDateTime":null,"documentNumber":null,"filedDateTime":"0001-01-01T00:00:00-05:00","isSealed":false,"orderExitedDate":null,"registryEntryCode":null,"sequenceNumber":0,"appliesTo":null,"comments":null,"filers":null,"service":null,"id":null},"reArgumentPetitionRegistryEntry":{"description":null,"documentTitle":null,"documentDateTime":null,"documentNumber":null,"filedDateTime":"0001-01-01T00:00:00-05:00","isSealed":false,"orderExitedDate":null,"registryEntryCode":null,"sequenceNumber":0,"appliesTo":null,"comments":null,"filers":null,"service":null,"id":null},"remittalRegistryEntry":{"description":null,"documentTitle":null,"documentDateTime":null,"documentNumber":null,"filedDateTime":"0001-01-01T00:00:00-05:00","isSealed":false,"orderExitedDate":null,"registryEntryCode":null,"sequenceNumber":0,"appliesTo":null,"comments":null,"filers":null,"service":null,"id":null},"rootOriginatingAuthority":{"name":null,"id":null},"rootOriginatingOrganizationName":{"displayName":null,"documentName":null,"firstName":null,"lastName":null,"middleName":null,"title":null,"id":null},"supremeCourtInformation":{"allocaturDocketNumber":null,"allocaturGrantDate":null,"allocaturGrantOrderLines":null,"appealedOrderDate":null,"appealJurisdictionNotedDate":null,"appealOfParagraphLines":null,"commentLines":null,"intermediateCourtName":null,"intermediateDisposition":null,"intermediateDocketNumber":null,"reArgumentDeniedDate":null,"reArgumentDisposition":null,"referringCourtName":null,"panelMemberNames":null,"id":null},"briefingSchedule":[],"caseAssociations":[],"caseBails":[],"caseCalendarEvents":[{"caseCalendarEventType":"Recovery of Real Property Hearing","commentLines":[],"scheduleStatus":"Continued","startDateTime":"2021-01-26T08:30:00-05:00","locationName":{"displayName":null,"documentName":null,"firstName":null,"lastName":null,"middleName":null,"title":null,"id":null},"presidingAuthorityName":{"displayName":"Riazzi, Eugene F. Jr.","documentName":"Magisterial District Judge Eugene F. Riazzi Jr.","firstName":"Eugene","lastName":"Riazzi","middleName":null,"title":"Magisterial District Judge","id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":4821}},"id":{"caseSystem":"MDJS","id":"1187610591+1187610591"}},{"caseCalendarEventType":"Recovery of Real Property Hearing","commentLines":["Per court order"],"scheduleStatus":"Scheduled","startDateTime":"2021-03-16T08:30:00-04:00","locationName":{"displayName":null,"documentName":null,"firstName":null,"lastName":null,"middleName":null,"title":null,"id":null},"presidingAuthorityName":{"displayName":"Riazzi, Eugene F. Jr.","documentName":"Magisterial District Judge Eugene F. 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[josh-chamberlain]

Given the nested nature of the data and flexible nature of our questions + purposes, what if we just put the JSON, mostly unaltered, into a place where elasticsearch could get at it? We could even use elastic cloud to test it out, rather than hosting our own.