Assembly Bill 418 which would stop ordinary citizens from viewing Wisconsin court records online via CCAP has aroused much debate.
JSOnline’s Proof and Hearsay summarizes:
It’s a footnote here that the bill to restrict access to Wisconsin’s online court records database is not likely to be seriously considered this Legislative term, but the fact the long-debated matter has risen to the level of Legislative debate has drawn a sizable amount of media attention. It’s an interesting debate: the records are going to be open, but should they be convenient? State AG J.B. Van Hollen says keep ’em online, and newspapers and judges are pushing for openness while a handful of Milwaukee’s legislators say making prosecutions so immutably public adds to the burdens faced by the people already having a hard time finding work.