Secret Courts

The judge in the shooting-spree case against James Holmes heard arguments Thursday on why court documents should be publicly available, but did not rule on the motion.

More than 20 news organizations are asking Chief District Judge William Sylvester to reconsider his decision to seal court documents in the case against Holmes, accused of killing 12 and wounding 58 people at an Aurora movie theater last month.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently released dozens of documents about a businessman turned government witness as part of a request that the high court find that a 12-year-old blanket sealing order in the case amounts to an unconstitutional prior restraint.

A Colorado judge denied the media's request to film and photograph Monday's hearing of the man accused of killing 12 and wounding 58 people at an Aurora movie theater last week.

Arapahoe County District Court Judge William Sylvester has ordered that no cameras or audio recording be allowed at James Holmes' July 30 hearing where charges are expected to be filed against him. The order is part of a broader trend of restrictions issued by Sylvester limiting press coverage in the Colorado shooting.

The Ohio Supreme Court ordered a judge to release all records sealed during the criminal prosecutions of several Mahoning County officials and business owners. The state high court also prohibited the judge from issuing further orders sealing records in the high-profile criminal-conspiracy case.

“We decide this case based on the Rules of Superintendence, which provide for public access to court records,” according to the opinion issued Wednesday.

In the backdrop of mounting media attention, the attorneys for two boys withdrew their motion on Monday to charge a 17-year-old Kentucky teenager for contempt after she potentially violated a court order by identifying them on Twitter as her attackers in a juvenile sexual assault case.

“There you go, lock me up,” Savannah Dietrich tweeted when she named the teens who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting her. “I’m not protecting anyone that made my life a living Hell.”

A California federal court has ordered documents in a legal battle over smart phones and tablets unsealed -- a departure from the marked increase in the number of civil cases completely or partially sealed in courts nationwide.

One of the most high-profile, domestic military prosecutions in decades will remain tightly sealed from public view.

An Army appeals court denied a request for public access to military court records in the court-martial of Pfc. Bradley Manning, who was arrested in May 2010 in Iraq for allegedly giving thousands of classified documents to the website WikiLeaks.

The Oregon Supreme Court ruled that the Boy Scouts of America cannot prevent the release of court documents introduced in a child sexual abuse jury trial that resulted in a $19.4 million verdict against the organization.