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Resource Center : Policy : Access to Judicial Information :

Access to Judicial Information

Over the years the courts have made many important decisions on government policies of secrecy and information restriction. State courts, U. S. Circuit Courts, and even the Supreme Court offered key rulings on secrecy. These decisions help set boundaries on, as well as create opportunities for, government secrecy. Understanding these rulings and remaining aware of new ones are important tasks for those advocating against government secrecy. Additionally, the use of secrecy in court proceedings is an important issue that has gotten recent attention from advocates.

Resource Pages

Free Searchable Federal Court Opinions from Justia.com
The Supreme Court's Official Website
Public Access to Court Records - an information clearinghouse on public access to court records and the debate on privacy concerns
Supreme Court Times - up-to-date information about cases currently on the docket of the Supreme Court of the United States
Pilot Project Will Post Digital Audio Recordings Online
[Newsletter of the Federal Courts, June 2007]
Pilot Project Begins: Two Courts Offer Digital Audio Recordings Online [I.S. Courts Press Release 8.6.2007]
Judicial Salary Resource Center [National Center for State Courts]

Analyses and Reports

Glimmers of greater openness at secretive Court by Tony Maura, First Amendment Center, October 2006
Judging Secrets: The Role Courts Should Play in Preventing Unnecessary Secrecy by Meredith Fuchs, Administrative Law Review, Winter 2006
Secret Dockets by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
The Pervasive Problem of Court-Sanctioned Secrecy and the Exigency of National Reform by David S. Sanson, Duke Law Journal, November 2003
Unnecessary Secrecy in the Courts by Trial Lawyers for Public Justice
Materials on Secrecy Practices in the Courts by the 2000 Forum for State Court Judges
The Confidentiality Debate and the Push to Regulate Secrecy in Civil Litigation by Professor Laurie Kratky Dore at Drake University Law School, 2000
Open Courts with Sealed Files: Secrecy's Impact on American Justice - What Judges Can and Should Do About Secrecy in the Courts by Richard A. Zitrin, Roscoe Pound Institute, 2000
A Quiet Revolution in the Courts: Electronic Access to State Court Records" by the Center for Democracy and Technology

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