Delaware

Reporters Committee lauds federal court's ruling that secret Del. court arbitration is unconstitutional

Press Release | August 30, 2012
August 30, 2012
Reporters Committee lauds federal court's ruling that secret Del. court arbitration is unconstitutional

A federal judge in Delaware stood up for the right to be informed about important disputes that may affect public health and safety Thursday when she declared unconstitutional state court rules that allow blanket confidentiality in private arbitration proceedings and records.

Delaware

Date: 
August 1, 2012

Summary of statute(s): Delaware’s wiretapping and surveillance laws require at least one party’s consent to record both in-person conversations and electronic communications. However, there is some conflict in the laws. A state privacy law makes it illegal to intercept private conversations without the consent of all parties. Del. Code Ann. tit. 11, § 1335(a)(4). The wiretapping law is much more recent, though, and at least one federal court has held that, even under the privacy law, an individual can record his own conversations. United States v.

Delaware

Date: 
May 1, 2012

 

Delinquency and dependency proceedings: All juvenile court proceedings in Delaware are private with the exception of felony cases, which are open to the public. Del. Code Ann. tit. 10, § 1063 (2012).

Open government lawyer: Delaware court's disclosure of arbitration judgments does not satisfy access right

Kristen Rasmussen | Secret Courts | Feature | March 13, 2012
Feature
March 13, 2012

A Delaware court that oversees arbitration between private companies has begun making its judgments public, after a court order in a lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of the court’s secrecy.

Delaware bill would set public records requests deadlines

Curry Andrews | Freedom of Information | Quicklink | January 22, 2010
Quicklink
January 22, 2010

A Delaware House committee approved a bill giving public agencies 10 business days to respond to public records requests, Delaware Online reported

The bill's sponsor told the committee on Wednesday that the measure would help correct existing FOIA law in Delaware, which does not set a deadline for agencies to comply with FOIA requests. "Someone can file a request and it sits and sits and sits," said state Rep. Brad Bennett.

Libel suit against JuicyCampus users dropped

Jason Wiederin | Libel | Feature | November 19, 2008
Feature
November 19, 2008

A University of Delaware student is withdrawing a lawsuit filed this month over allegedly libelous statements made on the Web site JuicyCampus.com, nipping in the bud what could have been a test of the site's sweeping support of anonymous speech on the Internet.

Media groups push for access to AMD v. Intel case, yet again

Kathleen Cullinan | Secret Courts | Feature | August 21, 2008
Feature
August 21, 2008

For the second time in nearly three years, a coalition of news groups and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press are pushing for openness in an ongoing antitrust suit between computer industry players AMD and Intel.

In its latest bid to permeate the secrecy that has all but shut reporters out of AMD v. Intel, the media coalition filed a motion Thursday saying documents have been sealed too readily and hearing transcripts have been closed without explanation from the court.

Officials cannot release autopsy results in car fire death

Freedom of Information | Feature | April 6, 2006
Feature
April 6, 2006

NEWS MEDIA UPDATE   ·   DELAWARE   ·   Freedom of Information   ·   April 6, 2006

Plaintiffs need proof of factual dispute to unmask blogger

Libel | Feature | October 6, 2005
Feature
October 6, 2005

NEWS MEDIA UPDATE   ·   DELAWARE   ·   Libel   ·   Oct. 6, 2005

Privacy rights of dead do not protect autopsy information

Freedom of Information | Feature | June 9, 2005
Feature
June 9, 2005

NEWS MEDIA UPDATE   ·   DELAWARE   ·   Freedom of Information   ·   June 9, 2005