State-by-state guide:
Alabama
Ala. Code § 12-15-65(a) (1998): The general public is to be excluded from delinquency hearings. Only the parties, their counsel, witnesses, and other people that the parties request can be admitted. Furthermore, the judge may admit people with "a proper interest in the case" if they "refrain from divulging any information which would identify the child or family involved." Finally, relatives, pre-adoptive parents, or foster parents who have been approved by the Department of Human Resources providing care to a child shall be given notice and an opportunity to be heard in any hearing to be held with respect to a child in their care.
Ala. Code § 12-15-100 (1998); Ala. Code § 12-15-101 (1998): Juvenile court records are open only to judges and probation officers; representatives of child custody agencies; other people, who have "a legitimate interest in the case or in the work of the court;" attorneys handling the case; the child’s parents or guardian; the principal of the child’s school or that principal’s representative if reasons are set forth why the safety or welfare, or both, of the school, its students, or personnel, necessitate production of the information. All information obtained from records "shall be held in the strictest confidence."Ala. Code § 12-15-103 (1998): On motion by a juvenile who has been the subject of a delinquency petition or on the court’s own motion, the court shall seal the file of the juvenile if it finds that two years have elapsed since the final discharge of the person from legal custody or supervision and the juvenile has not been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or adjudicated delinquent prior to the filing of the motion. Upon entry of the order, the proceedings in the case shall be treated as if they never occurred.
Ala. R. Juv. Proc. R. 18 (1998): The court may release statistical information regarding the processing and disposition of juvenile cases if identity of parties cannot be ascertained from such information and such release is not detrimental to the interests of a child or the work of the juvenile court.
Ala. R. Juv. Proc. R. 19 (1998): The juvenile court may adopt local rules to enforce the confidentiality of law enforcement records.
Transfer hearing: An alleged violation of juvenile confidentiality laws by media did not violate defendant’s right to a fundamentally fair hearing. C.S. v. State, 615 So. 2d 1254 (Ala. Crim. App. 1992).
Access granted: A television station’s news report about a 15-year-old runaway whose puppy had been stolen and tortured did not constitute an invasion of privacy. The court found that the public had a legitimate interest in the story. J.C. and C.C. v. WALA-TV, Inc, 675 So. 2d 360 (Ala. 1996).
Records held to be confidential: The Court of Civil Appeals held that law enforcement, social, medical, and psychiatric or psychological records of a juvenile who is declared delinquent or dependent are confidential and are open to inspection only under limited circumstances. In re: C.G., a minor, 716 So. 2d 219 (Ala. Civ. App. 1998).
Access denied: The Court of Civil Appeals held that the state has an interest in protecting the anonymity of youthful offenders. Clerk of the Municipal Court v. Lynn, 702 So. 2d 166 (Ala. Civ. App. 1997).
Access to juvenile witnesses granted: The admission into evidence of portions of a defendant’s testimony at a dependency hearing concerning the victim was not error. The Court of Criminal Appeals reasoned that the confidentiality rules which govern juvenile proceedings and records are designed to protect the juveniles in juvenile proceedings, not the privacy of witnesses. See Bombailey v. State, 580 So. 2d 41 (Ala. Crim. App. 1990).