VIII. Proceedings involving minors

Overview

Oklahoma

In World Publishing Co. v. White, 2001 OK 48, 32 P.3d 835, the court resolved the issue of access to certain juvenile records on statutory grounds and said that it did not need to address any constitutionally-based arguments for access. The court did note that “the First Amendment does not guarantee a presumption of openness and access to juvenile proceedings and the records generated pursuant thereto.” However, citing Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court, 457 U.S. 596, 607 (1982), the court said that “an across-the-board ban on access to juvenile proceedings poses a substantial constitutional issue.” Thus, at present, whether proceedings involving minors are open to the public is generally governed by statute, and the results are mixed. For example, a proceeding to determine whether a child is “deprived” and whether parental rights should be terminated is generally held in private and the transcript of the proceedings is not available to the public. Okla. Stat. tit. 10A, § 1-4-502. The same is true with respect to proceedings to determine whether a juvenile is “delinquent.” Okla. Stat. tit. 10A, § 2-2-402. On the other hand, if a juvenile is certified to stand trial as an adult for specified criminal offenses, the proceedings and records are open to the public. See World Publishing Co. v. White, 2001 OK 48, 32 P.3d 835 (commenting on “the erosion of the confidential status of juvenile records enjoyed historically”).