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Wisconsin's Democratic State Lawmakers Trying to Stop Citizens from Viewing State Court Records Online
The Wisconsin State Journal Reports: The opponents of open records are at it again. This time, four Democratic state lawmakers are trying to stop ordinary citizens from viewing Wisconsin court records online.

Rep. Marlin Schneider of Wisconsin Rapids, along with Reps. Fred Kessler, Tamara Grigsby and Annette Williams of Milwaukee, have won a public hearing for their secrecy plan, Assembly Bill 418. The hearing is set for Thursday at 9:30 a.m. in room 225 Northwest at the state Capitol.

The Assembly Committee on Corrections and Courts should quickly reject the bill, which would violate Wisconsin 's long-standing presumption that government records should be easily accessible to everyone.

AB 418 would needlessly restrict most people from viewing the state 's popular Web site for court records. The site -- wcca.wicourts.gov -- describes basic information about civil and criminal charges and convictions in courts across Wisconsin. full story

Full post as published by Legal Dockets Online on October 03, 2007 (boomark / email).