Monday, March 06, 2006

Secret Dockets

It looks like the controversy of secret dockets is becoming part of the federal judicial landscape. Jurist.law.pitt.edu has an interesting article on the issue and explains that there has been a “sharp increase” in secret proceedings in U.S. federal courts. More than five thousand criminal defendants have had their case records sealed, that is more than five times the number from 2003. Hidden federal dockets, where the existence of the case is not disclosed, is also on the rise. Interestingly, as many readers already know, the Eleventh Circuit ruled that secret dockets were unconstitutional in United States v. Ochoa. Are secret dockets the trend of the future?
at

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:35 PM

    Why wouldn't they be: secret arrests, secret police and secret wiretapping are all becoming part of our lives. Maybe we will feel safer in this country when there is no more crime -- only people mysteriously disapearing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous2:27 PM

    Take a look at Henry Wade Finley. It literaly says "do not publish". These people have aliases, somehow the court is "unaware".

    ReplyDelete