Currently federal court documents are available through a system called PACER. PACER has features that discourage public access to documents:
(1) A username, password are required.
(2) Users are charged $0.08/page.
(3) Search features are obscure and arcane.
While these factors may not matter to legal professionals who must access the documents for their job, the combined effect is to monumentously deflect casual curiosity with the law. Citizens have little to no direct knowledge about what goes on in their courts.
This is a serious problem because:
(1) Presidents need to be politically accountable for judicial appointments.
(2) Congress needs to be politically accountable for the actual legal effects of their laws.
(3) Citizens need to be informed of the law in their daily life.