Cases of important public interest will be easily accessible to both the public and the media, the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts recently announced. As of mid-July 2012, a new media and public information page was added to the intermediate appellate’s website.
President Judge Correale F. Stevens said in a press release that, “The Superior Court understand the importance of easy access to court filings in cases of public interest.”
Evidently, a similar website’s sharing of cases of interest occurred in the Centre County Court, where the case of the Commonwealth v. Sandusky was heard. The court president said that the Supreme Court’s website would include cases that are both high profile as well as cases that are not highly publicized. The website would also include civil cases like class action suits and other cases of unusual legal interest.
The page won’t post daily, although the page where precedential opinions are posted does have frequent activity.
Decisions about posting will come on a case-by-case basis. Factors that may be taken into account when determining what to post may include the number of press inquiries about a specific case. The court will also post as it sees fit. If a case is determined to be important to the public, the media and pubic page will feature that case’s opinion.
All court filings in Superior Court are public, except for those with sealed records. To obtain records or reports, one would need to travel to the Superior Court office in Harrisburg, Philadelphia, or Pittsburgh, or reach the lawyer who filed the record.
The website postings would make it easier to obtain certain records.
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