Legal News

Should Details of Divorces be Allowed to be Made Public? Discuss.

By Ashby Jones

When it comes to divorce proceedings, how much public disclosure is the right amount?

It’s a question tackled today by the WSJ’s Dionne Searcey in a Law Journal column entitled “Dirty Laundry Aired: The Fight Over Revealing Divorce Details.”

Searcey writes that a string of recent divorce cases involving high-profile figures has put the question in stark relief, and sometimes in excruciatingly personal terms. Defenders of disclosure say revelations that come out of divorce cases can provide insight into the character and habits of elected officials and others who are accountable to the public, such as executives of public companies.

But privacy advocates say most types of personal information, especially details that could hurt any children caught up in a divorce, should stay out of the public eye.

For the most part, divorce hearings are presumed to be open to the public, though case records are often considered private. But the laws vary widely from state to state. In all states, courts heavily weigh the interests of children when determining whether to seal any part of a divorce case. And in some states, including California, parties are allowed to redact information if they show a compelling reason, such as financial information that could allow identity theft.

In Nevada, for example, divorce papers recently unsealed by a Reno judge led to revelations that Gov. Jim Gibbons (pictured) has been accused in divorce filings of carrying on two affairs, one with a former Playboy model and another with a state employee while he was in office. In the Silver State, divorce records are for the most part presumed private. But in a hearing on the case, a district judge found unconstitutional a law allowing divorcing parties to close hearings and seal case records. Since then, allegations in the divorce have been reported in local and national media.

Says Gary Silverman, a lawyer for Gov. Gibbons: “Only somebody who is really . . . sick would care about what’s going on in somebody else’s divorce.”

Cal Dunlap, a lawyer for the governor’s wife, Dawn Gibbons, argues that divorces offer the public the opportunity to know what a public official is really like. “You find out what’s really going on with people and their character,” Dunlap said.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on May 28, 2009 (boomark / email).