Court Secrecy, A Handcuffed Journalist, ‘Access Denied’: 2018

ACROSS COLORADO– By Jeffrey A. Roberts | CFOIC Executive Director for The Colorado Independent. Two words come to mind when looking back at 2018’s government transparency highlights and lowlights in Colorado.

Judicial secrecy.

In June, the Colorado Supreme Court baffled many legal experts when it declared in a ruling that the First Amendment provides no protection for the public’s right to inspect court records in our state. The next month, The Denver Post’s David Migoya exposed what a newspaper editorial later called “a frightening black hole” – thousands of criminal and civil court cases completely hidden from public view, many suppressed by judges for no apparent reason.

“That means someone could be arrested, charged, convicted and sent to prison in Colorado without anyone seeing why, how or where, and whether the process was fair,” Migoya wrote.
Four months later, many court cases remained inaccessible to the public despite assurances from prosecutors and state officials that the process would be changed.

Meanwhile, Colorado at year’s end was waiting to hear whether the U.S. Supreme Court would review the state high court’s decision in The Colorado Independent v. District Court for the Eighteenth Judicial District. That case centers on efforts by the nonprofit news organization to unseal court records related to allegations of misconduct in the prosecution of death-row inmate Sir Mario Owens.

In their certiorari petition, lawyers for The Independent (including Steve Zansberg, president of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition), noted that the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling was contrary to decisions by federal appellate courts and other state courts around the country. “Left undisturbed,” the petitioners wrote, “it will erode access to important information about crimes prosecuted in Colorado state court and undermine confidence in the judiciary.”

READ MORE in The Colorado Independent

This article was originally published by Jeffrey A. Roberts at the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition – A non-partisan alliance of news organizations, groups and individuals. Our mission is to ensure that Coloradans understand and use the public’s rights of access to the records and proceedings of government and the judiciary.

Image: Colorado Supreme Court