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ASNE joins brief asserting that private settlements should be public records

ASNE joined an amicus brief filed last week in federal court by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press on behalf of several news organizations, including The Associated Press, The New York Times and The Washington Post.

ASNE joined an amicus brief filed last week in federal court by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press on behalf of several news organizations, including The Associated Press, The New York Times and The Washington Post. The brief supports the Delaware Coalition for Open Government's constitutional challenge to rules of the Chancery Court of Delaware that allow blanket sealing of private arbitration proceedings and records, including court-supervised settlement agreements. Although it's a state court matter, the case has national implications because a significant number of corporations reside in Delaware for legal purposes and utilize private arbitration to resolve disputes. When a private arbitration action is settled in the state, parties to the proceeding are required to file the agreement with the Chancery Court. Under normal circumstances, court documents are part of the public record, but in Delaware, these private arbitration settlements are sealed. Although there is no general right of access to private arbitration proceedings, the arbitration settlements are transformed into public documents when they are filed in state court, our brief argues, and a blanket prohibition on public access violates the First Amendment. Oral arguments in the case are scheduled on Feb. 9 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

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