2024: Maslow would be disappointed
that in us. We jumped right into the higher order of privacy concerns without discussing the basic security of court records. Having allowed the media and court systems to start the conversation, we followed right along. After years of studying the continual tension between the needs of the public (and media) to observe the workings of governmental institutions, including court systems; and the needs of individuals to trust court systems to protect their information and the court systems’ need to have the public’s confidence, we add back a basic concern. What are the courts and the technology vendor doing to protect the very important and sensitive information provided by litigants about themselves and third parties? How are they protecting the case management systems that are at the heart of modern court work flows? How are they protecting individuals from wholesale theft of information by data miners, who commercialize personal information, and bad actors, who engage in identity theft, extortion and other crimes against people? Where are the technological, and administrative safeguards?
In 2024, we will keep our eyes on the CNS litigation, monitor Maine state privacy legislation AND turn our attention to the security of court records. Join us on this journey—we’ll even create a new tab for this vital sub topic.
2023: Following National Trends and Maine Legislation and Privacy Issues
This year, we will keep on eye on the status of the court records access cases pending in federal district and appellate courts. In 2022, there were some twists and turns. As a result of Maine litigation, Courthouse News Service withdrew its case and moved on to other jurisdictions leaving the Maine court system to chart its own electronic destiny. Courthouse News Service had some successes in places such as Arizona, where embattled court staff agreed to voluntarily implement a press queue–that gave CNS, but not the general public, pre-review access to civil cases. In other instances, the federal courts have recognized that the first amendment does not require a specific timeline and they have rejected bright line rules for access. In Maine, several bills focusing on personal information privacy will be considered by the state legislature and additional matters involving the tension between the twin societal goals of transparency and privacy. Stay tuned for another interesting year…
AUGUST 2022: We are Taking a Brief Break and We Will be Back in September. Enjoy the end of summer.
Welcome to our exploration of the important intersection of individual rights and societal interests.
The Center dedicates its resources to examining the inalienable rights of individuals and the legitimate interests of society, and analyzing how Government should balance the two competing priorities.
Founded as an informal working group, members of the Center began focusing on this topic in the context of the accessibility of court records. As more court systems within the United States put their records online or otherwise make them available electronically, the questions about what information should be collected at filing, stored or segregated within files, and whether there should be differences between historical paper record access and new real time digital access.
2022: Watching the National Trends, but Keeping an Eye on Maine, too.
We continue to follow the media litigation related to state court record access flowing through the various federal circuits. Our analysis will focus on the areas of the law that remain unsettled or are evolving.
Things in Maine continue to be fluid.The Media litigation related to Maine state court records is on appeal to the Appeals Court for the First Circuit. We will follow those proceedings.
Additionally, the Maine State Legislature carried over several privacy bills and we expect to see a continued focus on personal privacy in new bills this session.
Thanks for sticking with us on this journey.
2021: Continued Focus on Maine
At the outset of 2021, our group started out with a tentative plan to monitor and write about privacy law bills pending in the Maine State Legislature. Given the process used by the legislature for publishing legislative documents, this has been somewhat slow going. It will continue to be one of this site’s focuses.
Additionally, as part of their sustained effort to impose certain standards on the state courts, mainstream media outlets sued Maine state court administrators arguing that their civil court record access policy violates what the media claims to be its first amendment rights. As that issue caught our attention, we will continue to stay engaged with the court record issues in Maine, too.
Closing the Door on 2020
This year has been challenging for so many reasons. COVID-19 created an overwhelming crisis in the United States. People got ill and died, others lost their jobs and/or homes, and many of us felt the loss of important social connections. It is time for us to move on and to return to focusing on the insitutiitions and processes that uphold the rule of law.
Our Vision: 2020
2020 should bring with it much activity as the Maine judicial branch presses on to the finish line with its first courts to join the digital age. Early in the year, there should be draft rules to evaluate. Later, we anticipate the release of long-awaited information about how the system will operate and be implemented. By year end, the first court region should have e-filing and digital court records. In 2020 we will continue to Focus on electronic court records.
Initial Context
In our first study, we review research and analyze issues seeking to find the correct balancing of rights in the context of Maine’s transition to a digital court records system.
“The most elusive mission is that of safeguarding individual rights in a majoritarian society with due regard for the legitimate interests of society. The search for the approach most likely to accomplish this mission seems to be neverending.”
Hon. Frank M. Coffin. The Ways of a Judge, 249 (Houghton Mifflin 1980)