ST. LOUIS — Two lawyers, a journalism review publisher and Missouri’s association of broadcast journalists say a state law requiring sweeping redactions in court documents is unconstitutional, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in Jefferson City.
Last year, Missouri lawmakers tacked language onto a larger, omnibus bill at the end of the session requiring attorneys and judicial officers to redact the names of all witnesses and victims involved in lawsuits and criminal proceedings.
The result has been one of the most restrictive redaction laws in the country that prevents news reporters, appellate lawyers and regular citizens from obtaining routine information, including the names of people killed in homicides, from public court records, the lawsuit says.
“The public is irreparably harmed by these severe limitations on the news media’s ability to serve as an effective watchdog over actions in and activities of the judicial system,” wrote attorney Dave Roland in the lawsuit.
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The lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of attorneys Michael Gross and Nina McDonnell, as well as Gateway Journalism Review publisher William Freivogel and the Missouri Broadcasters Association, asks a judge to invalidate the law because it violates the Missouri and U.S. Constitutions.
A hearing has not yet been set in the case.
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