Newspaper sues over practice of sealing civil case files

By The Associated Press

02.25.03

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HARTFORD, Conn. — The Hartford Courant has filed a federal lawsuit over the state judicial practice that gives Superior Court judges the discretion to keep civil cases secret.

Under state law, after a party is served in a civil case there is a period of up to 60 days before the case must be filed and an official public file opened.

But state Practice Book rules allow that file to remain sealed when, in the judge’s view, the parties’ privacy interests outweigh the public’s interest in the matter.

In some instances, court officials are not even allowed to acknowledge the cases exist and names of those involved are replaced by numbers. In other cases, the parties’ names appear on dockets but the files are sealed and the courtrooms often are closed.

The practice first came to light in December in a report by The Connecticut Law Tribune.

The lawsuit, filed Feb. 21, contends that the practice violates a constitutional right of access to court proceedings recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court. Newspapers are thwarted in their First Amendment right to monitor the courts, a lawyer for the Courant said.

“You cannot be an effective check and balance if you do not have access to what they are doing,” attorney Stephanie S. Abrutyn said. “The system loses credibility and it loses public confidence.”

The lawsuit names as defendant Judge Joseph Pellegrino, the state’s chief court administrator. A judicial branch spokeswoman said Feb. 21 the judge was declining to comment.

Pellegrino and William Sullivan, the chief justice of the state Supreme Court, said earlier this month that the practice could undermine public confidence in the courts, and said it should be eliminated.

But the judicial branch has declined to provide an accounting of the 104 cases that have been “super-sealed,” where names have been replaced by numbers, the Courant said. The newspaper reported Feb. 9 that judges have sealed files involving saxophonist Clarence Clemons, Boston Celtics center Vin Baker, former Xerox CEO Paul Allaire and others.

The lawsuit asks the federal court to order that, for every case, the judicial branch make public a docket number, parties’ names and a docket sheet describing any activity in the case.

Judicial officials have said sealing a case is often justified by the need to protect business secrets or, in cases where abuse is alleged, to protect the interests of minors. Cases involving people in the federal witness protection program are also cited as strong candidates for sealing.

Members of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee also are studying the issue and will debate whether to change a state law on the matter, said Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, the committee co-chairman.