Close court records, open can of worms
Another attack on Wisconsin’s long commitment to open government and open records was launched recently when the Assembly Committee on Corrections and Courts took up a bill to limit online access to Wisconsin court information.
State Rep. Marlin Schneider, D-Wisconsin Rapids, is the lead sponsor of legislation that would force regular citizens to hoof it down to the local courthouse whenever they want to check public court records.
Yes, public court records. Currently, they’re available to state citizens online through the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access program, a state Web site that provides brief summaries of court actions from speeding tickets and civil actions to felonies.
These are public documents we’re talking about—and that is apparently lost on Schneider.
Not only would people seeking the records have to fill out a request form with their name, address and relationship to the person whose records they want to view, but then county officials would have to determine whether the request is reasonable or not. Government would be gatekeepers of public court records.
Schneider’s bill tried to sweeten the toxicity of the legislation by allowing judges, lawyers and state newspaper reporters to continue to view the records online.
Thank you, Rep. Schneider, but no thanks.
Newspapers are stand-ins for the public, and we would just as soon not be culled from the herd and given special government-sanctioned privileges. We would bet the day would not be far away when another lawmaker might decide to author legislation to revoke that privilege.
Schneider maintains that the easy-access court records sometimes hurt people’s careers and reputations when record searchers do not check someone’s full name, leading to cases of mistaken identity. Such instances are probably rare, and they don’t stack up well against legitimate citizen uses of the court information.
One Milwaukee doctor and legislator recently told the committee that he tells female patients to use the online court records site to check on men they are dating and on individuals their children are dating.
“It’s been a lifesaver,” said state Rep. Sheldon Wasserman, D-Milwaukee.
State Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen also opposed the legislation, saying it would “exclude the general public from accessing information about court proceedings now available over the Internet absent special permission granted by government agents.”
That, Van Hollen said, would “frustrate the state’s public policy in favor of public access to information.”
Court documents are public record in Wisconsin. Schneider’s attempts to make them more difficult to view—or keep them from being viewed at all—defy the state’s commitment to open government. We hope the next stop for this bill is the shredder.
Steve Lovejoy is editor of the Racine Journal Times, where this article first was published. This “Your Right to Know” column is distributed monthly by the Freedom of Information Council (www.wisfoic.org), a nonprofit group dedicated to open government.
Nov 16, 2007 at 1:05 p.m.
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I'm no fan of "Snarlin' Marlin'", but how does open government get served by seeing everyone who gets divorced, files bankruptcy or if sued by a credit card or bank? That's certainly vital to the well-being of the state, by seeing if your neighbor has a speeding ticket, you'll bring jobs and commerce to Wisconsin, by learning that your neighbor has filed for divorce, you'll help put a subdivision in, and by seeing if the bank has foreclosed on his home, you'll provide healthcare for all citizens. This kind of crap was tried before, (remember Russia, where "the state" was best served when they stuck their noses in every aspect of your life?)While CCAP may be good in some cases, sticking your nose in your neighbors personal business DOES NOT meet the criteria of free speech and responsible journalism, I should know, I worked as a journalist for over 28 years, it does not pass the smell test. Some limitations to CCAP are warranted. The papers need the free information to fill their Classified sections, try more real news, not "who got hauled into court for a parking ticket". This is not responsible journalism, it's a lot closer to "Pravda".
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