SENATOR YEE INTRODUCES COURT TRANSPARENCY BILL
California Political Desk
February 16, 2011
Legislation would end excessive delays in providing public access to filings.
SACRAMENTO – One of California´s strongest open government advocates has introduced another bill to provide greater public access to government documents. Today, Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) introduced legislation – SB 326 – to require courts to provide same-day access to court filings.
While some major courts in California still provide the traditional same-day access to case-initiating documents, other courts do not permit the public to see these and other new filings in a timely manner. In fact, there have been reports of delays up to two weeks or more.
"Delays in accessing court documents are contrary to the fundamental right of public access and the ability for journalists and others to know what transpires each day in our courthouses," said Yee. "These delays in public access have u nfortunately become epidemic. SB 326 will help rekindle some light on the actions of courts and lawsuits that greatly affect the public."
Court records were once easily accessible on the same day as they were filed, as a court clerk would provide public access after minimal docketing. Recently, however, courts have required such documents to first go through several administrative procedures before allowing public access, which has resulted in significant delays.
Examples of these delays in access can be found up and down the state. In trial courts in Fresno and Kern counties, access to new civil actions is regularly delayed by two weeks or more.
In the Ventura County Superior Court, acc ess is delayed between three days and two weeks, including actions of great interest to the public. For example, a battle between Russian oil giant Gazprom and ExxonMobil recently filed in Ventura could not be seen for three days, by which time the public interest in a huge business battle was gutted.
"California´s trial courts are the biggest and most important in the nation," said William Girdner, Editor of Courthouse News Service. "They regularly generate major news in business and legal and civil rights areas. Traditionally, journalists reviewed the new business of the courts on the same day new cases, rulings, and other court records were filed. That access has been steadily pushed back by a number of courts in California. In a time when the news cycle can be measured with an egg timer, courts are pushing journalists off the news by a day to a week or more, by which time the news is old news."
"In an era when most news cycles are instantaneous, vital information about court proceedings is often not made public for days or weeks," said Peter Scheer, Executive Director of the First Amendment Coalition. "This bill is necessary to restore to the people of California the information they need to monitor legal developments as they happen."
"The courts have invested millions in technological solutions to expedite the massive flow of information through the courts," said Tom Newton, General Counsel of the California Newspaper Publishers Association. "Unfortunately, there is evidence this public expenditure has slowed the public´s access to its courts and Senator Yee´s bill intends to make certain these changes work to the public´s benefit."
In addition to several past bills authored by Yee on government transparency, this session he has introduced SB 8 to require public university auxiliaries and foundations to adhere to the California Public Records Act; SB 118 to require public contracts of energy projects to be made public and put out for a competitive bidding process; SCA 7 to ensure local governments adhere to the Brown Act and publically notice meetings; and SCR 8 to declar e March 19 to March 23 as Sunshine Week.
SACRAMENTO – One of California´s strongest open government advocates has introduced another bill to provide greater public access to government documents. Today, Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) introduced legislation – SB 326 – to require courts to provide same-day access to court filings.
While some major courts in California still provide the traditional same-day access to case-initiating documents, other courts do not permit the public to see these and other new filings in a timely manner. In fact, there have been reports of delays up to two weeks or more.
"Delays in accessing court documents are contrary to the fundamental right of public access and the ability for journalists and others to know what transpires each day in our courthouses," said Yee. "These delays in public access have u nfortunately become epidemic. SB 326 will help rekindle some light on the actions of courts and lawsuits that greatly affect the public."
Court records were once easily accessible on the same day as they were filed, as a court clerk would provide public access after minimal docketing. Recently, however, courts have required such documents to first go through several administrative procedures before allowing public access, which has resulted in significant delays.
Examples of these delays in access can be found up and down the state. In trial courts in Fresno and Kern counties, access to new civil actions is regularly delayed by two weeks or more.
In the Ventura County Superior Court, acc ess is delayed between three days and two weeks, including actions of great interest to the public. For example, a battle between Russian oil giant Gazprom and ExxonMobil recently filed in Ventura could not be seen for three days, by which time the public interest in a huge business battle was gutted.
"California´s trial courts are the biggest and most important in the nation," said William Girdner, Editor of Courthouse News Service. "They regularly generate major news in business and legal and civil rights areas. Traditionally, journalists reviewed the new business of the courts on the same day new cases, rulings, and other court records were filed. That access has been steadily pushed back by a number of courts in California. In a time when the news cycle can be measured with an egg timer, courts are pushing journalists off the news by a day to a week or more, by which time the news is old news."
"In an era when most news cycles are instantaneous, vital information about court proceedings is often not made public for days or weeks," said Peter Scheer, Executive Director of the First Amendment Coalition. "This bill is necessary to restore to the people of California the information they need to monitor legal developments as they happen."
"The courts have invested millions in technological solutions to expedite the massive flow of information through the courts," said Tom Newton, General Counsel of the California Newspaper Publishers Association. "Unfortunately, there is evidence this public expenditure has slowed the public´s access to its courts and Senator Yee´s bill intends to make certain these changes work to the public´s benefit."
In addition to several past bills authored by Yee on government transparency, this session he has introduced SB 8 to require public university auxiliaries and foundations to adhere to the California Public Records Act; SB 118 to require public contracts of energy projects to be made public and put out for a competitive bidding process; SCA 7 to ensure local governments adhere to the Brown Act and publically notice meetings; and SCR 8 to declar e March 19 to March 23 as Sunshine Week.
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