The Maine court system reversed itself on sealing some court records after pressure from media groups, officials said Wednesday.
Dismissed criminal cases that had been ordered sealed will remain public records as they have in the past, according to a spokeswoman for the Maine court system. Continue…
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Read More… from Maine courts unseal documents after media challenge
With technical barriers soon to be cleared away, all that remains is working out access policies for the public to get court records online just as easily as at the courthouse.
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Over the past several years, efforts have been made to remove identifiers from public records due to concerns over identity theft.
Many federal, state and local public agencies and courts are actively considering whether to remove or redact identifiers from public records and documents.
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Read More… from Op-ed: Removing birthdate from Iowa court records could have unintended consequences
The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday told the judge in the Planned Parenthood shooting case to reconsider his sealing of court records in light of recent developments.
The high court, however, did not rule on whether news organizations have a First Amendment or Colorado constitutional right to inspect the affidavits of probable cause that El Paso County District Court Judge Gilbert Martinez has kept under seal since last fall.
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Read More… from Judge ordered to reconsider sealing of Planned Parenthood shooting documents
Journalists, have you ever spent hours searching through federal court websites or government databases for a story? What if you could use a website that could cut that time down to just mere seconds? That’s what Sqoop promises to do.
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Read More… from ‘Sqoop’ website allows reporters to search government databases faster
Immediately after last week's attack at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic, many people wanted to know alleged shooter Robert Lewis Dear's motive.
But law enforcement documents, including the arrest and search warrants, that could provide insight into that question were sealed the day of the attack by Judge Stephen Sletta at the request of prosecutors. Continue…
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Read More… from Planned Parenthood shooting prompts a question: Why are court records sealed?
The Tuscaloosa News and other media organizations throughout Alabama have challenged a judge's decision to seal records in Gov. Robert Bentley's pending divorce case.
A motion filed today requests that the records be made public to comply with the state's open records law. Continue…
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Read More… from Motion seeks to unseal governor’s divorce records
From San Francisco Chronicle: MILWAUKEE (AP) — The top lawmaker in the Wisconsin Assembly said he favors expunging unproven charges from the state’s online court records system but expressed reservations about another bill limiting access to pending cases.
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Read More… from Wisconsin assembly leader backs online court records limits
From Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Legislators are talking once again about limiting what the public can see on the state court system’s free online database.
Generally speaking, this is unnecessary meddling. This important public information system works well.
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Read More… from Editorial: More CCAP meddling by legislators
From NFOIC: A few state FOIA and local open government news items selected from many of interest that we might or might not have drawn attention to earlier in the week. While you're at it, be sure to check out State FOIA Friday Archives.
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Read More… from NFOIC’s State FOIA Friday for November 15, 2013
