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0 pointsejb9994y ago0 comments

>> we need to entirely change our public records laws... Immediately.

I am certain that many people in government would agree with you - they would LOVE to be able to hide what they are doing and not be held accountable for decisions they make (or don't make). We need more public disclosures, not less, imo.

>>So there are records that were once ‘public’ but are no more, but this database makes them public again.

This website didn't make them public, they just gave others a way to access them - once something is public, and in control of others, it is impossible to make them 'un-public' without violating the 1st amendment.

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flutas4y ago

> I am certain that many people in government would agree with you - they would LOVE to be able to hide what they are doing and not be held accountable for decisions they make (or don't make). We need more public disclosures, not less, imo.

Agreed 100%, a local court has been making precedents with that and...it's unnerving.

https://www.thv11.com/article/news/politics/routine-gag-orde...

djbusby4y ago

What's the point of sealed records then? How would that be managed? We should let citizens have some privacy right?

ejb999OP4y ago

If they were sealed, they shouldn't be made public until they become unsealed (if ever) - but if they were public at some point, they are for all intents and purposes public forever. Very hard to make something private, after it has been out in the public.

thrashh4y ago

Plenty of things become super hard to find after no one cares about it anymore. High profile cases aren’t like that but most things are not high profile.

Just because you can’t make something 100% perfect doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. Locks aren’t unbreakable. Seatbelts won’t always save you. Your cloud service won’t always stay up. Yet we use and build all these things and no one has an issue with it.

And for all intents and purposes, if court records are meant to be hidden to protect someone’s future chance of success, by all means we should do what we can.

giantg24y ago

I don't think the discussion is about sealed records. I think the main point here is that the state needs to adequately seal the record.

As a side note, I don't think Bar complaints should be private. People running the system should be transparent. The only reason transparency should be limited is with the name of the witness. Otherwise, how can we be sure the system is functioning correctly?

TedDoesntTalk4y ago

> once something is public, and in control of others, it is impossible to make them 'un-public' without violating the 1st amendment.

I do not think that is accurate.

lazide4y ago

Can you be more specific?

How do you propose someone could stop someone from releasing a record they acquired publicly, exactly?

Seize it? Prohibit someone from saying something they found out via a public route on penalty of fine or prison?

verve_rat4y ago

Um, yes? Courts can issue injunctions to stop people from publishing material they have. If they breach the injunction they can go to jail, or have some other penalties imposed.

Even in the US there are limits on free speech. A judge would weigh 1st amendment rights vs other considerations, but there are limits. Yelling fire in a theatre and all that.

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