Connecticut

Delinquency and dependency proceedings: Connecticut law appears to provide for media access to juvenile court proceedings but includes limitations on publication. Specifically, the law allows the judge to admit into dependency proceedings anyone with a legitimate interest in the hearing or in the work of the court, which provides a basis for media, but not necessarily, public access. Those individuals may be admitted only on the condition that they refrain from divulging any information that would identify the child or family involved. Conn. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 46b-122 (West 2012). But the state Supreme Court ruled that statutes intended to protect juveniles from publicity about their alleged offenses do not forbid the media from disclosing any information which may have come into their possession lawfully. In re Juvenile Appeal, 488 A.2d 778, 782 n.4 (Conn. 1985), superseded by statute on other grounds, In re Michael S., 784 A.2d 317 (Conn. 2001). Also under this statute, the judge may exclude from any juvenile hearing people not necessary to the proceeding. Conn. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 46b-122. Unlike in criminal courts, which are presumptively open, denial of public access to juvenile proceedings may be warranted in the interest of protecting the juvenile’s right to privacy, the state intermediate appellate court held. Thus, a trial court’s decision not to open the courtroom to the public and news media before finding a prospective adoptive mother in contempt of a confidentiality order was not an abuse of discretion, the court ruled. In re Brianna B., 785 A.2d 1189, 1197—98 (Conn. App. Ct. 2001).

Delinquency and dependency records: Juvenile court records are confidential in Connecticut, and disclosure of any information contained in the records is prohibited. But records in delinquency cases can be inspected pursuant to court order by anyone with a legitimate interest in the information. Conn. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 46b-124. The Connecticut Supreme Court held that the strong presumption of confidentiality of juvenile records and the privacy interests implicated therein justified a narrow scope of the discretion afforded a trial court with regard to releasing information without the express written consent of the parties involved. The court concluded that until other alternatives had been exhausted, it was an abuse of discretion for the trial court to have provided access to information from juvenile files. In re Sheldon G., 583 A.2d 112, 119, 123—24 (Conn. 1990). Law enforcement officials may disclose information about a minor who has escaped from a facility to which the minor was committed or one for whom an arrest warrant has been issued with respect to the commission of a felony. Conn. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 46b-124. But police department records are not to be released unless they are part of “records of cases of juvenile matters,” a state trial court held. The court found that nothing in the record in that case, which involved case reports and accompanying documents regarding two incidents involving minors, suggested that the requested documents were records of juvenile court matters. Glastonbury Police Dep’t v. Freedom of Info. Comm’n, No. CV 970570076, 1998 WL 161238, at *4 (Conn. Super. Ct. Mar. 25, 1998).

Restrictions on coverage: Connecticut law allows victims 12 years old or younger to testify in cases involving assault, sexual assault or child abuse outside the presence of the defendant via video-recorded testimony or closed-circuit television. The statute appears to allow the media and public to remain in the courtroom during this testimony. Conn. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 54-86g. Although court rules governing media coverage of court proceedings do not specifically restrict coverage of minors, they do state that, when deciding a request that coverage of a criminal proceeding be prohibited, the judge must give great weight to “requests where the protection of the identity of a person is desirable in the interests of justice, such as for . . . juveniles.” Conn. Super. Ct. R. 1-10B, 1-11.