Court records

A list of potential witnesses for an upcoming triple murder trial should not be released to the public, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled in an opinion officially released today.

Four media organizations jointly filed a motion Wednesday asking the District of Columbia Superior Court to grant public access to court documents in an ongoing criminal trial involving the murder of Chandra Levy, a 24-year-old Washington, D.C., intern who disappeared in 2001.

A media investigation led to three South Carolina cities and towns posting court data online, The (Charleston) Post and Courier reported.

The investigation found that three of the region's largest municipalities, which handle more than 100,000 cases a year, were not posting data on their Web sites. The investigation arose when a newspaper filed an open records request for court data dating back to Jan. 2007 and all three jurisdictions responded with incomplete information.

Both Wisconsin's Legislature and its Supreme Court are considering plans to restrict online access to court records, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court justices agreed last month that they should consider limiting information posted on the Consolidated Court Automation Programs Web site, which lists cases heard in the state court system.

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday extended a ban on secrecy in civil court cases to criminal proceedings.

Courts in three Florida counties are using new standardized forms to ensure that judges provide adequate reasons for sealing court records, The Ledger [Lakeland] reported.

A state representative in Wisconsin has proposed legislation that would severely restrict online access to court records, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Starting next year, the Wyoming Supreme Court will require clerks to redact birth dates, addresses, Social Security numbers and other personal information in court records, The Associated Press reported Monday.

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear an appeal by a Connecticut Roman Catholic diocese to stop the release of records related to sexual-abuse lawsuits against its priests.

The Associated Press reported that the Court denied the Diocese of Bridgeport's appeal to overturn the Connecticut high court's order to unseal more than 12,000 pages of documents from 23 lawsuits.