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Recorder plays public-record watchdog

By Mark Obbie

Thanks to a brief and accidental disclosure of a court document meant to be sealed, Dan Levine of The Recorder shines a light on a court's casual decision to conceal public documents -- and a lawyer's demonstrably overblown justification for that sealing. Levine, covering the first economic espionage prosecution, noticed that the sentencing memorandum that U.S. District Judge James Ware agreed to seal did not square with the description of it by defense lawyer Paul Meltzer. Levine got a peek at the document when it was inadvertently disclosed on the court's electronic docket. Levine then uses the story to question the standards that the courts use, and the practical realities -- namely, that judges will lazily agree to any uncontested sealing motion, regardless of the facts or the rules. Thankfully, some news organizations take the time to cover such incidents critically, or go even further to formally challenge such decisions.

Full post as published by Lawbeat on November 20, 2008 (boomark / email).