Access to Search Warrants Critical to Public’s Right to Know About Law Enforcement, Judicial System
The New England First Amendment Coalition recently recommended changes to trial court practices that often make it difficult to access search warrant records in Massachusetts.
“These documents are subject to the public records law and often inform reporting on critical issues in the state,” wrote NEFAC in a Feb. 25 letter to Chief Justice Heidi E. Brieger. “While public by law, these documents are too often not public in practice.”
While Supreme Judicial Court Rule 1:11 addresses the disposal of court records and papers, the rule does not specify a retention period for search warrants or applications for warrants. There is also no policy on where the records should be stored.
In some cases, court clerks are claiming these documents are not public in the first place. When they do acknowledge that the records are public, court clerks are at times refusing to search for them without a docket number or the date the search warrant was returned. This information is often not readily available and there is no index of search warrants to use as reference at courthouses.
“As a result,” the coalition wrote, “members of the public and the newsrooms they rely on are often left without access to records that should be available to them.”
NEFAC asked the court to:
• Institute a reasonable retention policy for search warrants and applications for warrants.
• Require each court provide a publicly accessible index of all returned and retained search warrants, including the application documents.
• Provide guidance to court clerks on where search warrants should be stored.
• Issue a reminder that search warrant documents are indeed public records.
The coalition previously wrote to the Trial Court about the lack of criminal case information provided online despite a court rule requiring its disclosure. The coalition also asked the court to make policy changes regarding courthouse kiosks as they are often out-of-service, unreasonably slow or monopolized by individual users for hours at a time.
NEFAC is the region’s leading advocate for the First Amendment and the public’s right to know about government. All coalition briefs, advocacy letters and statements can be found here.
NEFAC was formed in 2006 to advance and protect the Five Freedoms of the First Amendment, including the principle of the public’s right to know. We’re a broad-based organization of people who believe in the power of an informed democratic society. Our members include lawyers, journalists, historians, academics and private citizens.
Our coalition is funded through contributions made by those who value the First Amendment and who strive to keep government accountable. Please make a donation here.
NEFAC is supported by the Estate of Gloria L. Negri. Additional funding is provided by Leadership Circle donors including the Rhode Island Foundation, The Boston Globe, Paul and Ann Sagan, and the Robertson Foundation. Major Supporters of NEFAC’s work are Hearst Connecticut Media Group, Boston University, the Academy of New England Journalists, Northeastern University and WCVB-Boston.