Florida Media Outfits, ACLU Call On State High Court To Leave Foreclosure Proceedings Open To Public

The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:

• A group of Florida news organizations and the American Civil Liberties Union Monday called on Florida’s Supreme Court to preserve open access to foreclosure proceedings.

• In a letter to Chief Justice Charles T. Canady, the group cites “numerous reports” of barriers to access for the news media and the general public that have taken place since August in Duval, Hillsborough, Orange and Citrus Counties. The letter is signed by representatives of the ACLU, The First Amendment Foundation, Florida Association of Broadcasters, Florida Press Association, The Florida Society of Newspaper Editors and James Denton, editor of The Florida Times-Union, a newspaper based in Jacksonville.

• The letter also referred to an incident in Jacksonville in which a legal aid attorney was told she might be cited for contempt of court in the future after the attorney attended a foreclosure proceeding with a reporter from Rolling Stone magazine.(1)

For more, see ACLU wants courts to keep foreclosure cases open to public.

(1) See Rubber-Stamping Judge Threatens Foreclosure Defense Legal Aid Lawyer With Contempt For Bringing Media Member To Observe Rocket Docket.