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Article: Court defers to the legislature on electronic court records.
- Article from:
- Florida Bar News
- Article date:
- December 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Florida Bar. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The benefits: Electronic transmission of court records will provide convenient access, greater openness and accountability, and cheaper ways to store and retrieve public information.
The downside: Public information can be highly personal--and with just a few clicks at the computer, widely disseminated over the Internet and possibly used for nefarious purposes.
The Florida Supreme Court, in a November 7 opinion written by Senior Justice Major B. Harding, agreed that "comprehensive policies that set out guidelines on electronic access to court records must be considered and uniformly implemented."
But the high court is letting a legislative study ...