MAD Lawsuit Court Docket Website

A public-facing website for displaying court documents and filings for the lawsuit: Elizabeth Kragh v. Montana Association of the Deaf.

Live Site: https://v2.mad-lawsuit.org
Admin Dashboard: https://v2.mad-lawsuit.org/admin/login

📋 Project Overview

This website provides public access to court documents from an ongoing lawsuit in Montana state court. Since the Montana court system requires a licensed attorney electronic account for access, this platform ensures transparency by making all case filings, motions, exhibits, and court decisions publicly accessible.

Purpose

• Public Transparency: Makes court proceedings accessible to anyone interested
• Document Organization: Centralized, chronological display of all case filings
• Real-time Updates: Email subscription system for case updates
• Professional Presentation: Clean interface with document summaries and metadata

Target Audience

• General public following the case
• Legal community (attorneys, paralegals, law students)
• Disability rights advocacy groups
• Media and journalists
• Researchers studying the case

🛠️ Technology Stack

Backend

• Framework: Laravel 12.43.1
• Language: PHP 8.3.28
• Database: PostgreSQL 16
• ORM: Eloquent
• Authentication: Laravel Sanctum + Session

Frontend

• Framework: Vue 3 with TypeScript
• Routing: Inertia.js (SSR-like experience)
• Styling: Tailwind CSS 3.x
• Build Tool: Vite 7.x
• Components: Vue Single File Components (SFC)

Infrastructure

• Containerization: Docker with Alpine Linux
• Web Server: nginx 1.28.0
• PHP: PHP-FPM 8.3.28
• Reverse Proxy: Caddy (with automatic SSL)
• Deployment: Production server at 10.4.0.205

✨ Features

Public Website

• Court Docket Display: Chronological list of all court filings
• Document Viewer:
  • Desktop: Modal PDF viewer with download option
  • Mobile: Opens PDFs in new tab (optimized for iOS Safari)
• Email Subscriptions: Users can subscribe for case updates
• Responsive Design: Optimized for desktop, tablet, and mobile
• Case Information: Status, last updated date, and case details

Admin Dashboard

• Authentication: Secure session-based login
• Docket Entry Management: Full CRUD operations
  • Create new entries with date, title, and summary
  • Edit existing entries
  • Delete entries (cascades to associated documents)
  • View entry details
• Document Management:
  • Upload PDF documents (500MB max)
  • UUID-based file naming for security
  • Multiple documents per docket entry
  • Delete documents
• Subscriber Management:
  • View all subscribers (paginated, 50 per page)
  • Deactivate subscribers
  • Statistics dashboard (total, active, inactive)
• Dashboard Statistics: Quick overview of entries, documents, and subscribers

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• PHP 8.3+
• Composer
• Node.js 18+ and npm
• PostgreSQL 16+
• Docker (for production deployment)

Local Development Setup

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://gitea.sigd.net/chaulmark/mad-lawsuit.git
   cd mad-lawsuit
   

2. Install PHP dependencies

   composer install
   

3. Install JavaScript dependencies

   npm install
   

4. Configure environment

   cp .env.example .env
   php artisan key:generate
   

5. Configure database Edit .env with your PostgreSQL credentials:

   DB_CONNECTION=pgsql
   DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
   DB_PORT=5432
   DB_DATABASE=mad_lawsuit
   DB_USERNAME=your_username
   DB_PASSWORD=your_password
   

6. Run migrations

   php artisan migrate
   

7. Seed admin user

   php artisan db:seed --class=AdminSeeder
   

8. Create storage symlink

   php artisan storage:link
   

9. Start development servers

   # Terminal 1: Laravel development server
   php artisan serve
   
   # Terminal 2: Vite development server
   npm run dev
   

10. Access the application

    • Public site: http://localhost:8000
    • Admin dashboard: http://localhost:8000/admin/login
    • Default credentials: See database/seeders/AdminSeeder.php

Production Deployment

See DEPLOYMENT.md for detailed production deployment instructions using Docker.

📁 Project Structure

├── app/
│   ├── Http/
│   │   ├── Controllers/
│   │   │   ├── Admin/          # Admin dashboard controllers
│   │   │   ├── HomeController.php
│   │   │   └── SubscriptionController.php
│   │   └── Middleware/
│   │       └── AdminAuth.php   # Admin authentication middleware
│   └── Models/
│       ├── AdminUser.php
│       ├── DocketEntry.php
│       ├── Document.php
│       └── Subscription.php
├── database/
│   ├── migrations/             # Database schema
│   └── seeders/
│       ├── AdminSeeder.php
│       └── V1DataMigrationSeeder.php
├── resources/
│   ├── js/
│   │   ├── Components/
│   │   │   └── PDFViewer.vue   # PDF modal viewer
│   │   ├── Pages/
│   │   │   ├── Home.vue        # Public homepage
│   │   │   └── Admin/          # Admin dashboard pages
│   │   └── app.ts
│   └── css/
│       └── app.css
├── routes/
│   └── web.php                 # Application routes
├── docker/                     # Docker configuration
├── cline_docs/                 # Project documentation
└── storage/
    └── app/
        └── public/
            └── documents/      # Uploaded PDF files

🔐 Security

• Admin Authentication: Session-based authentication separate from Laravel Breeze
• File Security: UUID-based file naming prevents direct access guessing
• CSRF Protection: Laravel's built-in CSRF protection on all forms
• SQL Injection: Eloquent ORM prevents SQL injection
• XSS Protection: Vue.js automatic escaping
• HTTPS: Automatic SSL via Caddy in production

📊 Database Schema

Tables

• docket_entries: Court filings with date, title, summary, notes
• documents: PDF files linked to docket entries
• subscriptions: Email subscribers with active/inactive status
• admin_users: Admin authentication

Relationships

• One docket entry has many documents
• Documents cascade delete when entry is deleted
• Subscriptions are soft-deleted (is_active flag)

🧪 Testing

# Run PHP tests
php artisan test

# Run with coverage
php artisan test --coverage

📝 API Endpoints

Public Routes

• GET / - Homepage with docket entries
• POST /api/subscribe - Email subscription
• GET /api/documents/{id}/download - Download PDF

Admin Routes (requires authentication)

• GET /admin/login - Admin login page
• POST /admin/login - Process login
• POST /admin/logout - Logout
• GET /admin/dashboard - Admin dashboard
• Resource routes for:
  • /admin/docket-entries - Docket entry management
  • /admin/documents - Document management
  • /admin/subscribers - Subscriber management

🐛 Known Issues & Solutions

Mobile PDF Viewing

• Issue: iOS Safari renders PDFs in iframes as single-page images
• Solution: On screens < 768px, PDFs open in a new tab instead of modal viewer

Admin Subscribers Page

• Fixed: Changed pagination from ->through() to ->items() to properly pass array to Vue

🤝 Contributing

This is a private project for a specific lawsuit. For questions or issues, contact the repository owner.

📄 License

Proprietary - All rights reserved.

👥 Credits

• Development: Built with Laravel, Vue.js, and Inertia.js
• Design: DeafGain LLC (http://deafgain.org)
• Hosting: Self-hosted on dedicated infrastructure

📞 Support

For technical issues or questions:

• Repository: https://gitea.sigd.net/chaulmark/mad-lawsuit
• Production URL: https://v2.mad-lawsuit.org

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Version: 2.0
Last Updated: December 2025
Status: Production Ready ✅