CFOIC President: Why Colorado needs a uniform standard for sealing criminal court records

Colorado has had its share of high-profile criminal cases.

The aborted rape prosecution of NBA star Kobe Bryant. The capital trial of Aurora movie theater shooter James Holmes. The preliminary hearing for the kidnapper and killer of 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway. The pending prosecution of the admitted Planned Parenthood shooter, Robert Lewis Dear.

In each case, a judge entered an order severely restricting the public’s right to inspect records kept in court files, largely out of concern that seating an impartial jury would be more difficult if the records were widely disseminated.

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