MIAMI, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- A watchdog group representing several U.S. media and legal organizations is challenging an alleged secret docketing system in Miami federal court.
The suits stem from two separate cases which were never placed on the published calendar of cases that is available to the public. In both cases secret hearings were held.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed briefs in the Supreme Court and the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta on behalf of about two dozen groups, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.
One case involves an Algerian-born waiter who was arrested for violating his student visa a few weeks after the 2001 terrorist attacks. Another involves a minor player in a high-profile Colombian drug smuggling case.
Neither case appeared on a public docket, the committee said, and the public had no way of knowing they existed.
Executive Director Lucy Dalglish of the RCFP said the practice violates free speech rights and ignores established court decisions that favor open records and courtrooms.
