State-by-state guide:

Illinois

705 ILCS 405/1-5 (1998): The general public, except for the news media and the victim, are excluded from any hearing. However, the court may, for the minor’s safety and protection and for good cause shown, prohibit any person or agency present in court from further disclosing the minor’s identity.

705 ILCS 405/1-7 (1998): Law enforcement records are closed to the public unless criminal proceedings are instituted against the minor.

705 ICLS 405/1-8 (1998): Juvenile court records are not available to the general public but may be inspected by representatives of agencies, associations and news media or other properly interested persons by general or special order of the court. The public has a right of access to the name and address of a juvenile who is at least 13 years old and has been criminally convicted of a serious crime or connected to criminal street gang activity.

Access granted: The Illinois Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court order allowing that the Department of Professional Regulation to examine the pleadings, docket entries and orders in an abused minor’s court file. The court noted that concerns about protecting the minor’s identity were adequately addressed by the Department’s agreement that her name would be redacted from all of the records to be inspected. In addition, the court noted that the Department was not permitted to examine any reports or other documents in the file, and therefore, the minor’s confidentiality was secured. In re K.D., 279 Ill.App.3d 1020, 666 N.E.2d 29 (1996).

Court proceeding: The Illinois Court of Appeals held that the trial court exercised proper authority in excluding the public from a proceeding where extensive publicity would adversely affect juveniles. The court found that even when closure was not requested, the trial court had authority to prohibit a newspaper from publishing identity of juvenile victim if the identity was learned in a juvenile court proceeding. In re a Minor (Ill. v. Champaign News-Gazette), 205 Ill. App. 3d 480, 563 N.E.2d 1069 (1990).

Access denied: The Illinois Supreme Court held that the newspaper was not deprived of the opportunity to exercise its constitutional right to inform the public about the operation of the juvenile court system. The court held that prohibiting the newspaper from disclosing the minor victims’ identities in no way interfered with the newspaper’s constitutional role of acting as a conduit for the public in generating the free flow of ideas, keeping the public informed of the workings of governmental affairs, and checking abuses by public officials. In re Minor, 149 Ill. 2d 247, 595 N.E.2d 1052 (1992).

Protective order: The Illinois Court of Appeals held that a protective order prohibiting public discussion of a child custody case violated the First Amendment as a prior restraint. However, the court found that if specific findings are made that the conduct of parties or attorneys created clear and present danger to the fairness and integrity of the custody proceeding, a protective order would be permissible. In re Summerville, 190 Ill. App. 3d 1072, 547 N.E.2d 513 (1989).

Jurisdiction: The Illinois Court of Appeals does not have jurisdiction to rule on juvenile court order that forbade newspaper to publish the name of a defendant charged with murder because the order was administrative in nature and derived from the trial court’s authority to control the proceedings. In re No Name, 160 Ill. App. 3d 613, 513 N.E.2d 1185 (1987).

Forbidding publication: The Illinois Supreme Court held that a statute which gives the court the power to proscribe publication of a juvenile’s name in connection with a juvenile proceeding could not be constitutionally applied to restrain newspaper publisher’s First Amendment rights, where the publisher learned the identity of the juvenile, not through hearing closed to the public, but through routine reporting, and where no demonstration of serious and immediate threat to the juvenile was shown. In re a Minor v. Daily Journal of Kankakee, 127 Ill. 2d 247, 537 N.E.2d 292 (1989).

Forbidding publication: The Illinois Court of Appeals held that the trial court erred in issuing protective order prohibiting the media from disseminating any information obtained from an open juvenile proceeding. In re M.B. (State v. The Daily Paragraph), 137 Ill. App. 3d 992,484 N.E.2d 1154 (1985).

Forbidding publication: State’s attorney does not have the power to impose restrictions on the publication of the names of minors involved in juvenile proceedings. 1974 Op. Atty Gen. No. S-803.

Forbidding publication: Juvenile court cannot prohibit media from publishing information they obtain by attending the proceedings, unless publication poses an immediate threat to the judicial proceeding. 1973 Op. Att’y Gen. Mo. S-645.

Access granted: The Illinois Supreme Court held that a judge’s order in a delinquency hearing which excluded all members of the public except for the press was not erroneous because the defendant was not entitled to a private trial at the expense of the public’s right to gain information about court proceedings. In re Jones, 46 Ill. 2d 506, 263 N.E.2d 863 (1970).

Gag order: In child custody dispute, a gag order which provided that the parties and their attorneys may not discuss the case with the news media did not bar the media from any of the proceedings in the case, nor did it prohibit the media from making its own inquiries. People v. J.M., 267 Ill. App. 3d 145, 640 N.E.2d 1379 (2 Dist. 1994), appeal denied, 159 Ill. 2d 568, 647 N.E.2d 1010 (1995).