A&A: Reporter denied access to a court decision made against a school district

Q: I’m a reporter trying to access information regarding a lawsuit against the local school district. A decision was made but so far, no documents of that decision have reached the court records department. The only document filed is a single-page notation that the case was heard. There’s no indication the records have been sealed. [...]

California state senator introduces court transparency bill

State Senator Leland Yee has introduced a bill to require state courts to make new court records available to the public no later than the end of the day. Delays in releasing records have crippled efforts by the media to cover court news. Court administrators claim that budget restraints make it impossible to release records [...]

California: Court transparency bill introduced in state senate

The California Newspaper Publisher Asssociation and a number of other press groups are backing a bill introduced by Senator Leland Yee requiring timely court transparency. Yee is introducing the bill to address delays the media endures in receiving court documents. The media is concerned that weeks may go by before court administrators release documents. -db [...]

A&A: Are federal court pre-sentencing reports public information?

Q: Are federal court pre-sentencing reports public information? A: Evidently, access to presentence reports has evolved over the years. Initially, there was no requirement that presentence reports be disclosed even to the defendant, let alone to the public at large. See, e.g., United States v. Schlette, 842 F.2d 1574, 1578 (9th Cir. 1988) (outlining history [...]

AP, Bloomberg, CNET, Wired.com, LA Times, CNPA join FAC motion in lost-iPhone case

FAC–The First Amendment Coalition and major news media have requested the California Court presiding over the Gizmodo/missing iPhone matter to unseal judicial records relating to the warrant issued for the search of an online journalist’s home and the seizure of his computer, hard drives and other digital files. The motion to unseal the warrant affidavit [...]

First Amendment Coalition joins forces to write stiffer rule for access to court records

The First Amendment Coalition along with the California Newspaper Publishers Association and Californians Aware have submitted written comments on a draft of a Rule of Court to grant the public access to administrative court records. -DB CNPA Legislative Bulletin September 16, 2009 CNPA, the First Amendment Coalition and Californians Aware all lodged informal written comments [...]