[Mr. Bird]

Really? I thought court records were covered. Certainly, the operative word is should.

[Tired_of_the_Lies]

Public access to court records is not covered by the FOIA, or at least wasn't a few years ago.

I can't speak definitively to how or why court records are open to the public, but it is likely derivitive. in criminal trials at least, of the accused right to a fair and open trial under the Constitution and, in both civil and criminal trials, partly to the right of freedom of the press.

Whtever the legal analysis, court records were generally open to the public long before the FOIA was enacted in the aftermath of Watergate.

[ClintonBeGone]

Really? I thought court records were covered. Certainly, the operative word is should.

It's usally defended in some lame 'seperation of powers' arguement.