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Friday, June 18, 2004

Law - More on release of divorce records

This is our third story this month on various aspects of whether divorce records are public documents.

A June 9th Indiana Law Blog entry reported on the 2nd Circuit's ruling that docket sheets are public documents and included this quote from The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press:

Last fall, Connecticut Law Tribune reporter Thomas B. Scheffey discovered the secret docketing system while reporting on the divorce of former General Electric Chairman Jack Welch, who filed for divorce in Bridgeport, Conn., ending his 13-year marriage to Jane Welch.
On Wednesday (6/16/04) we reported on the Court of Appeals decision in Ernst & Young v. Indianapolis Star, where, according to a quote from the Star, "Indiana's public records laws, the court ruled today, permit a trial court to seal public records that fall within certain mandatory exceptions, such as a business's confidential information, even after they have been disclosed as evidence."

And today the Chicago Tribune reports here that "Court sets release of Ryan's divorce file." Some quotes:

LOS ANGELES -- Dealing a blow to the U.S. Senate candidacy of Republican Jack Ryan, a California judge ruled that several sealed divorce records likely to embarrass the candidate and his ex-wife should be opened to the public.

Ruling on a request brought by attorneys for the Tribune and WLS-TV, Superior Court Judge Robert Schnider acknowledged that the resulting publicity from the disclosure would be harmful to the couple's son, a key argument Ryan had raised in seeking to keep the documents from public view.

But Schnider said he had weighed the public interest of disclosure against the private interests of the Ryans and their child. "In the end," Schnider found, "the balance tips slightly to the public.

"They were aware they were in a public court system and protection from embarrassment cannot be a basis for keeping from the public what's put in public courts," said Schnider, referring to Ryan and his ex-wife, actress Jeri Lynn Ryan. Additionally, Schnider said, "the openness of court files must be maintained, so that the public ... can be assured that there is no favoritism shown to the rich and the powerful."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 18, 2004 08:38 AM
Posted to General Law Related