State-by-state guide:

Oregon

Or. Rev. Stat. § 419A.250 (1997): Fingerprints and photographs of juveniles are confidential. However, public agencies may inspect such records for investigation purposes if the juvenile is charged with an offense that would be a violent felony if committed by an adult.

Or. Rev. Stat. § 419A.255 (1997): Juvenile court records are closed to the public unless the court consents to the disclosure of the records. However, the name of the juvenile, the basis for the court’s jurisdiction over the juvenile, the time and place of the proceeding, the act alleged in the petition if that act would constitute a crime by an adult, and the parents’ names are generally not confidential.

Or. Rev. Stat. § 419B.035 (1997): Members of the public may not inspect juvenile court reports and records.

Ore. Unif. Tr. Ct. R. 3.180 (1998): In general, juvenile proceedings are closed to the media.

Access granted: The Oregon Supreme Court held that a juvenile court order that excluded the press from a juvenile proceeding violated the Oregon Constitution, Art. I, § 10, which states that "no court shall be secret, but justice shall be administered, openly and without purchase, completely and without delay." Oregonian Publishing v. Deiz, 613 P.2d 23 (Or. 1980).

Publishing juvenile’s name: The Oregon Supreme Court upheld the dismissal of a complaint filed against newspaper for the publication of an article that identified a juvenile defendant because the plaintiff failed to allege that the information was released without the court’s consent or that the basis for the newspaper’s liability was anything other than that the publication was a nuisance. Mikan v. Valley Publishing, 89 P.2d 1201 (Or. 1979).

Access granted: In addressing whether the juvenile court committed reversible error by permitting the presence of a newspaper reporter during a hearing regarding the placement of a child in a facility to treat emotional problems, the Oregon Court of Appeals held that the failure of the judge to inform the parties in advance that a reporter would be present at the hearing was not reversible error, since he was authorized to admit any person he determined had a proper interest in the case or the workings of the juvenile court. In re L., 546 P.2d 153 (Or. Ct. App. 1976).