Excessive secrecy is a powerful weapon in the attack on access to justice. Those abusing power know that, as Justice Brandeis said, “Sunlight is the best of disinfectants.” If people don’t know about injustice, they may not care whether the courts can be used to correct it, won’t know what’s taking place in the courts, can’t tell whether justice is being done, and won't know about the threat to their rights.
Efforts to expand secrecy and limit public access have increased dramatically in the past few years. In more and more instances, “national security” has been invoked as a reason to bar discovery of key evidence. New amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure could forever shield emails and other electronic records of companies sued for wrongdoing. Companies are forcing more customers and employees into mandatory arbitration, in part, because that process is usually secret.
WHAT PUBLIC JUSTICE IS DOING
For two decades, Public Justice has been exposing and preventing excessive secrecy. Project ACCESS, our special project against unnecessary court secrecy, has unsealed evidence of dangers to the public health and safety, helped injury victims and others oppose overbroad protective orders, and educated the public about the dangers of litigation conducted behind closed doors.
We discovered, disclosed, and defeated an unpublicized amendment to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that would have allowed judges to seal documents whenever the parties agreed – even if there was no justification for secrecy at all. In one case, we helped win public access to a federal court file about an insurance company’s wrongdoing after the file had been sealed, deleted from the courts’ computers and returned to the offending company.
See our Court Secrecy Case Index to learn how we are succeeding.
Read Public Justice's congressional testimony on unwarranted court secrecy.
Read Public Justice's comprehensive article on unnecessary court secrecy.
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