KEEP COURT RECORDS AVAILABLE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC ON THE INTERNET, ATTORNEY GENERAL VAN HOLLEN SAYS
Thursday, October 04, 2007
MADISON - Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen sent a letter today to members of the Assembly Committee on Corrections and Courts, expressing his opposition to Assembly Bill 418. The Committee had a public hearing on the bill this morning.
Van Hollen's letter stated that the bill "would exclude the general public from accessing information about court proceedings now available over the Internet absent special permission granted by government agents." Van Hollen said the bill would "frustrate[] the state's public policy" "in favor of public access to information." Van Hollen's letter also noted that "if even the smallest fraction of the approximately one million hits a day [Wisconsin Circuit Court Access] receives become requests to district attorneys for special CCAP access, then the workload strain on state prosecutors will be exacerbated."
In June, the Legislative Audit Bureau issued a report indicating that the weighted caseload formula used to determine prosecutors' office staffing showed that district attorney offices across the state are significantly understaffed.
Van Hollen's letter [PDF]
