The Citrus County Chronicle

Justice cannot be blind if the public is prohibited from seeing what’s going on.

In recent months, select individuals have been permitted to have dockets and court records sealed in Florida, preventing public awareness of, and access to, information that historically has been in the sunshine.

Because of a legal loophole, court actions concerning public and court officials, TV personalities and other prominent individuals have been sealed. By blocking access to information, citizens and the press are cheated of the right to determine if the matters are of public interest.

Having the financial wherewithal and savvy legal representation has resulted in a two-tiered justice system where legal matters of ordinary citizens are open for the world to see, yet a separate standard has been crafted for the elite.

That is un-American and makes a mockery of a judicial system in which all are to be treated equally.

As proposals to alter the current situation come before the state Supreme Court, the public should take particular interest in seeing that what’s fair for one is fair for all. The court justices should feel ethically obliged to ensuring that dockets are not sealed and that court records are public.

As Sunshine Week is observed across the country this week — celebrating the liberties Americans uniquely enjoy in monitoring government activities — the issue of disparity in Florida’s court system should ring loudly.

While Americans are fortunate to have the Freedom of Information Act, Floridians are particularly fortunate to have Government-in-the-Sunshine laws, safeguarding access to government meetings and records.

In the Sunshine State, where citizens have the legal right to access all but a sliver of government-related information, a special privilege to privacy for some cannot be tolerated in our judicial system. The courts are a branch of government and must be held to the highest standard.

Reproduced courtesy of the Citrus County Chronicle.
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