Court info on the Internet fuels public access versus privacy right debate

by Jeff Wentworth
State Senator, District 25

The debate over the public's right to know versus an individual's right to privacy is not new, but it has intensified since some Texas courts began posting court case documents on the Internet.

For years, a trip to the courthouse was necessary to access case records. Now that information could be as close as your home computer.

As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Jurisprudence and a strong advocate for open government, I am very interested in a study currently being conducted by a 17-member committee appointed by Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Phillips.

The membership of the Committee on Public Access to Court Records includes several active judges, district and county clerks, legislators and open-government advocates. The committee is considering whether certain information in court records that is available at the courthouse, and possibly already online, should be off limits.

I do not want Texas courts to become unwitting accomplices of identity thieves or stalkers who may use the Internet to access sensitive and personal information found in many court documents and use it unlawfully. Neither do I want the courts to deny access to records that allow the public to monitor the operation of their court system. Electronic access to court records helps those who cannot go to courthouses during normal business hours to research everything from family history to tax appraisals.

The Committee on Public Access to Court Records has endorsed creating a sensitive-data form for each case file that would include private information, such as Social Security numbers, financial and driver's license numbers, birth dates, address, phone numbers and names of minor children. These data forms would be available to the court, the parties to a case and their attorneys, but would not be accessible to the general public.

Many Texans believe that private information that appears in court records should not be released to the public and cite the United States Constitution as the document that guarantees a right to privacy. The right to privacy is not a part of the U.S. Constitution, although U.S. Supreme Court rulings have found that an implied right to privacy does exist in some forms, such as the police not being allowed to search a home without a warrant.

I am pleased that the Committee on Public Access to Court Records has been exploring all issues associated with providing public access to court records over the Internet.

The goal of the committee is the development of a comprehensive statewide policy regarding electronic access to court records that balances public access with personal privacy and public safety.

As a senator and committee chairman, I will be interested in the committee's recommendations. Protecting Texans is one of the primary responsibilities of state government. I will do my best to ensure that any legislation resulting from the committee's recommendations protects both your right to privacy and your right to access public records.

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