The arrests that proceeded from the events of September 11, 2001 have been shrouded in secrecy. But the extent of closed-door court proceedings, including thousands of domestic criminal cases has been kept under wraps until now. The Associated Press has conducted an exhaustive study of sealed US federal court records using data supplied by the Administrative Office of the US Courts.
A synopsis with links to sources can be found at Paper Chase.
Meanwhile, hundreds of civil cases in Washington state are disappearing from the dockets, or never recorded, according to a report by the Seattle Times.
And there’s more. A US congressional committee wants to know why declassified documents housed at the National Archives have been withdrawn from public access.
Are your local courts using this stealth tactic to disappear public records?
[…] Secret trial courts - private judges - hidden public records By Tamara Thompson A few months ago I wrote about the removal of thousands of court cases from state and federal court dockets. Although the use of private courts is ensconced in the California Constitution, the proceedings are public records, but there is no court docket index, therefore limited means to track these cases. […]