Russell v. Times Pub. Co., 91-1469
| Decision Date | 07 February 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. 91-1469,91-1469 |
| Citation | 592 So.2d 808 |
| Parties | 17 Fla. L. Weekly D417 John Lewis RUSSELL, III, Appellant, v. TIMES PUBLISHING COMPANY, Miami Herald Publishing Company, and State of Florida, Appellees. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Richard S. Blunt, Tampa, for appellant.
George K. Rahdert, Thomas H. McGowan, Alison M. Steele, of Rahdert & Anderson, St. Petersburg, for appellees Times Publishing Co. and Miami Herald Publishing Co.
Lawson L. Lamar, State Atty., and William C. Vose, Chief Asst. State Atty., Orlando, for appellee State of Fla.
In the spring of 1991, the Times Publishing Company (the St. Petersburg Times) and the Miami Herald Publishing Company discovered that John Lewis Russell, III (the founder and chief executive officer of the Bureau of Missing Children, Inc.--a charitable fund raising organization) had obtained three orders sealing court files relating to arrests in Orange County. 1
The Times and the Herald moved to "intervene" in the closed, sealed cases of State v. Russell, numbers 77-1096, 75-3275 and one other unknown number and to unseal these records because:
Well established principles of federal and state constitutional and common law require that these court records be opened for public inspection.
The trial court, without taking any testimony and without receiving any documentary evidence, granted the motion to intervene and unsealed the court files. We reverse.
Most of the authority cited by petitioner relates to open court proceedings. We agree that the public should have full access to trials and other public proceedings. The rights of the press are coextensive with the rights of the public.
The question before us is whether properly sealed court records remain "public records" within the meaning of our statutes and constitution. 2 We hold that they do not. They are former public records, now sealed, subject to being reopened as public records upon "good cause shown." 3
We can envision some "good cause" reasons for unsealing records; for example, if judicial conduct is questioned. In that event the court file, with the individual defendant's name redacted, could be made available. Also, if it is shown that the defendant perjured himself in order to obtain the sealing, the file should be reopened.
In the instant case, there was no "good cause" pled and no evidence offered. The cause is remanded with directions to continue the files under seal.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
1 This information was discovered during litigation to unseal certain records of Russell in Hillsborough County, a matter presently pending before the Second District Court of Appeal.
2 Neither party in their brief nor in their oral presentation discussed the Florida constitutional right to privacy. Although the right yields to public records disclosure, does it attach to those records once public but now sealed?
3 Although the court's authority to seal its own records is not based on statute, it is nevertheless analogous to the...
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...it under conditions wherein the ends of justice require it." Johnson v. State, 336 So.2d 93, 95 (Fla.1976); Russell v. Times Publishing Company, 592 So.2d 808 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992). Cf. Russell v. Miami Herald Publishing Company, 570 So.2d 979 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990). Accordingly, we conclude that......
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...order has not profited from the act of judicial grace and has been subsequently convicted of other crimes. Russell v. Times Publishing Co., 592 So.2d 808 (Fla. 5th DCA1992); and Russell v. Miami Herald Publishing Co., 570 So.2d 979 (Fla. 2d DCA1990) (majority and concurring Resha did not es......
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Times Pub. Co. v. Russell, 79496
...for petitioners. Richard S. Blunt, Tampa, for respondent. McDONALD, Justice. We accepted review of Russell v. Times Publishing Co., 592 So.2d 808 (Fla. 5th DCA1992) (Russell II ), based on the Times' argument that the district court's opinion conflicted with Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. L......
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Scott v. Nelson, 96-3074
...to show good cause is on the party seeking to reopen court records. Id. at 159, approving the decision in Russell v. Times Publishing Co., 592 So.2d 808 (Fla. 5th DCA 1992). In Russell, the court concluded that properly sealed court records are no longer "public records" within the meaning ......