In Praise of Public Access: Why the Government Should Disclose the Identities of Alleged Crime Victims
Abstract
This Note examines the legal issues that arise out of government restrictions on public access in two hypothetical situations. The first situation occurs when the police redact a victim's identity in the complaints and incident reports that they routinely release to the public. In this situation, restriction occurs at the investigative or law enforcement stage of.a criminal matter. The second situation occurs when a court employs a pseudonym to designate a victim, or otherwise prohibits access to the victim's name, in all proceedings and records generated by a criminal incident. This scenario occurs during the pre-trial and trial stages of a criminal matter.
This paper has been withdrawn.