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Over 5,000 defendants' cases kept secret in US
(AP, March 5, 2006)
Despite the US Constitution’s guarantee of public trials, nearly all records are being kept secret for more than 5,000 defendants who completed their journey through the federal courts over the last three years. . . . Instances of such secrecy more than doubled from 2003 to 2005. . . . An Associated Press investigation found, and court observers agree, that most of these defendants are cooperating government witnesses, but the secrecy surrounding their records prevents the public from knowing details of their plea bargains with the government. . . . Most of these defendants are involved in drug gangs, though lately a very small number come from terrorism cases. Some of these cooperating witnesses are among the most unsavoury characters in America’s courts — multiple murderers and drug dealers — but the public cannot learn whether their testimony against confederates won them drastically reduced prison sentences or even freedom. . . . "The constitutional presumption is for openness in the courts, but we have to ask whether we are really honouring that," said Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and now law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. "What are the reasons for so many cases remaining under seal?" . . . "What makes the American criminal justice system different from so many others in the world is our willingness to cast some sunshine on the process, but if you can't see it, you can't really criticise it," Levenson said. . . . The courts' administrative office and the US Justice Department declined to comment on the numbers. . . . The data show a sharp increase in secret case files over time as the Bush administration's well-documented reliance on secrecy in the executive branch has crept into the federal courts through the war on drugs, anti-terrorism efforts and other criminal matters.

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posted by LoZo 4:19 PM