A divided Arizona appellate court has ruled that hidden electronic data that indicate how and when documents are produced with word-processing computer programs aren’t themselves public records. Read more: http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/press/information/news.aspx?id=21130
Rule 123, Rules of the Supreme Court of Arizona, governs public access to records maintained by the judiciary. The foundation of the Rule is that court records should be open to everyone. But exactly what information should be available to the public online for individual cases? Should certain users be authorized to directly access case management databases in real time, such as government agencies, government contractors, commercial agencies subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the news media, or research organizations? If so, what standards and processes are needed to qualify for such access? The Advisory Committee on Supreme Court Rule 123 and Data Dissemination examines these and other issues in their final report: http://supreme.state.az.us/Rule123/Rule%20123%20%20DDA%20Committee%20Report%20v4.pdf.
