For use Sunday, March 15

Florida laws open book on Casey Anthony’s life

Amy L. Edwards
Sentinel Staff Writer
March 15, 2009

We know when Casey Anthony orders a ponytail holder, candy bars and deodorant.

We know whom she has slept with, and we’ve read the racy instant messages she shared with an ex-deputy.

And we know that Anthony’s father lost money in an e-mail scam.

The public has learned a lot about Anthony, her family and friends since the 22-year-old mother was arrested last summer — and that’s largely because of Florida’s broad public-records laws.

“Without that muscle, without being able to exercise that muscle, none of this stuff would be available,” said Charles Davis, executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition at the University of Missouri.

Today is Sunshine Sunday, the day designated by the Florida Society of News Editors to raise public awareness of the importance of open government in the state.

In the months since Anthony was arrested and eventually charged in the death of her daughter, Caylee Marie, thousands of pages of legal documents detailing the sweeping criminal investigation have been released in response to records requests.

That also has allowed the public to learn details of Anthony’s life — including her parents’ financial woes and family drama.

“Florida’s open-records laws are some of the best in the nation when it comes to access to information,” said Clay Calvert, a professor at The Pennsylvania State University who studies First Amendment issues.

“The Anthony story itself has sensationalistic appeal that makes it popular for our voyeuristic tendencies in a reality-TV world. Nonetheless, the open-records laws of Florida have helped to fuel that fire. Had this taken place in another state, we might not see quite as much interest, although there would certainly still be coverage by the likes of [Nancy] Grace and her ilk.”

The public agencies involved with some aspect of the Anthony case — the State Attorney’s Office, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and even the county jail — have been inundated with constant requests from reporters.

In the pre-Anthony days, jail spokesman Allen Moore said, he typically would log 80 to 120 contacts with news reporters per month. In July — when Caylee was reported missing and Anthony first jailed — Moore logged 357 media contacts.

By August, the volume of media contacts grew so large that Moore estimates it at 463 for the month.

“In the 12 1/2 years I have worked as P.I.O. [public information officer] for Orange County Corrections, no case has generated this much media activity for such a long period of time,” he said.

In response to media requests, public agencies have released recorded video visitations with Anthony and her relatives, 911 calls and videotapes of her parents being questioned by detectives.

Orlando lawyer Bill Sheaffer, a legal analyst for WFTV-Channel9, said he has never seen a case where public records have been requested, and churned out, to the degree they have been with the Anthony case.

“This case is just unprecedented in a number of levels, including the public interest,” he said.

Evidence collected for prosecutors in criminal trials must be shared with defense lawyers — a process known as discovery. Once the defense receives the information, it then can be released publicly. State Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Danielle Tavernier said she has received hundreds of requests for records in the Anthony case.

The thousands of pages of court documents released so far have included everything from forensic-evidence reports and transcripts of detectives’ interviews to the details about the parties and clubs Anthony frequented.

Davis, with the National Freedom of Information Coalition, said there’s no state where the discovery records are as public as they are in Florida.

“You have a level of access that is unprecedented,” he said.

Although many of the Anthony records have been widely distributed online by news outlets, Florida courts have not made many court records easily available to the masses via the Web.

For example, the public can check out a county clerk’s Web site and see whether prosecutors or defense lawyers have filed legal motions in criminal cases. But in most instances, those documents are not viewable on the Internet. The actual documents must be viewed or purchased at the county clerk’s office.

Several years ago, the Florida Supreme Court ordered many court records be kept off the Internet until several issues could be studied further. Justices had concerns about how to deal with private information contained in many documents, such as Social Security numbers.

The clerk’s office in Manatee County was allowed to run a pilot program that places criminal- and civil-court records on the Internet. Since the program was launched in 2007, more than 3,000 people have subscribed to the free service.

“We haven’t had any issues with it at all,” said Karl Youngs, general counsel for the Manatee County Clerk of the Court and Comptroller.

Adria Harper, director of the First Amendment Foundation in Tallahassee, said the debate continues on how to make Florida’s court records available online. Among the more recent developments: A committee identified a narrow list of what records should be kept off the Internet.

“It’s very important for citizens to be able to become involved with their government. The more access we have to public records and proceedings in court, the more we can participate and oversee what’s going on,” Harper said. “Access to records and proceedings is our window into the decision-making process.”

Amy L. Edwards can be reached at aledwards@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5735. 

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