This afternoon the judge kicked media out of Florida redistricting trial. GOP operatives testifying.

[madfloridian]

It seems the GOP gets to confess their deeds in private.

Leon County judge kicks media out of Florida redistricting trial

TALLAHASSEE – A high-stakes trial over the fate of Florida’s congressional redistricting plans was closed to the public Thursday as top Republican operatives testified about their insider roles in trying to influence the final maps.

Leon County Circuit Judge Terry Lewis ordered media to leave the courtroom at 1:40 p.m. in order to comply with a Florida Supreme Court decision earlier this week to allow a closed review of emails, maps, documents and other evidence pertaining to GOP operatives Rich Heffley along with Pat Bainter and his company, Data Targeting.

Bainter has argued in court for the last year that more than 500 pages of records are protected trade secrets, and the state’s high court ordered Lewis on Tuesday to close the court to the public when that evidence was presented. Bainter is still fighting use of the records in an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court his lawyer filed on Wednesday.

Several media organizations, including the Orlando Sentinel, the Associated Press, the Miami Herald and the Palm Beach Post, objected to the order to clear the court.

“So noted,” Judge Lewis said.

[wandy]

1. This sort of sounds like, the people who were elected.........

don't want the people who elected them in the room while they discuss how they plan to be re-elected so they may continue to service the people they represent.

Did I get that wrong or is this just another case of Teapublican democracy in action?

[FloriTexan]

2. Kick

[TheBlackAdder]

3. "protected trade secrets" Who decides that? nt

[madfloridian]

4. Amazing, isn't it. "keeps more than 500 pages of records from being publicly released"

"What transpires in a courtroom is public property. The public has a right to know what people testify about and evidence submitted to the court," said Rachel Fugate, a lawyer for the Sentinel.

"This is an extremely important case and if the testimony or evidence plays a part in the court’s determination, that is something the public should know."

Heffley was allowed to testify in the open for about two hours Thursday before the questions delved into the Data Targeting records, at which point Lewis ordered the court closed.

The ruling for now keeps more than 500 pages of records from being publicly released, evidence Bainter’s lawyer has argued has nothing to do with the Legislature’s map-drawing and will do unnecessary harm to his business and clients. The Florida Channel, the public television service, was also required to stop broadcasting the trial, which is in its second week.

It is unbelievable this can happen.

[Jim Lane]

6. In the first instance, the trial judge. This is an established legal principle.

Private companies do have trade secrets, and individuals have legitimate privacy concerns. It happens sometimes that, to balance the litigants' need to use the information against their desire or another person's desire for secrecy, the compromise that's reached is that the information is provided to the attorneys but can't be disclosed more broadly. Any briefs or other papers that use the restricted information are filed under seal and are not available to the general public.

An attorney quoted in #4 seems to say that everything considered by a court should be made public. That's way too broad. There might be a corporation with a trade secret that would benefit its competitors. There might be an individual who's suffered some kind of injury that he or she doesn't want made public. While it's true that the secrecy does impair the public's right to know, it's a reasonable compromise provided it's not done to excess. That's why it's up to the judge, not the litigants, whether to accept a particular request for secrecy.

[madfloridian]

5. Suing groups can use the pages presented in secret, but can't be presented in open court.

According to a FL Supreme Court ruling.

http://www.jcfloridan.com/news/article_7e82f33e-e764-11e3-aa17-001a4bcf6878.html

The Florida Supreme Court ruled this week that up to 538 pages of evidence obtained from a Gainesville-based political consulting firm could be used by groups suing the Legislature over how they drew up congressional districts.

But the court also said that the evidence — which includes emails and maps — must not be disclosed in open court. When it came to time for the evidence to be presented, Lewis closed the courtroom.