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And Justice for Some
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Business New Haven
3/17/2003
By: BNH
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the Hartford Courant have performed a valuable service by blowing the lid off the existence of top-secret case files maintained by the state judicial department.
Since the early 1970s, apparently, and with virtually no accountability, some judges have selective sealed civil cases involving issues of public safety and consumer protection, as well as divorce and paternity cases involving fellow judges, celebrities (such as Bruce Springsteen saxophonist Clarence Clemons) and wealthy CEOs (such as UConn President Phillip E. Austin).
Since the revelations, some lawmakers have introduced a bill that would eliminate so-called Level 1 sealed cases, under which the very existence of a civil lawsuit is kept secret. Judicial officials have acknowledged there are 104 such cases statewide, but refuse to disclose anything about them, including the names of the parties or even the names of the judges who sealed them.
An additional 7,000 cases are designated Level 2, in which the parties names appear on dockets but the entire case files are sealed and courtrooms typically closed.
That this two-tiered justice system - one for rich and powerful defendants with friends in the judiciary, and one for the rest of us - could exist for three decades effectively under the radar of public and press scrutiny is outrageous.
An independent judiciary is one of the cornerstones of the American justice system. But independence can be abused, and in Connecticut it apparently has been.
The system should be scrapped immediately.
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