The Codcast: Open court?

The Massachusetts Trial Court this week issued its new rules and regulations regarding public access to court records and it’s fair to say officials erred on the side of less rather than more.

The rules, which were more than two years in the making, were issued in conjunction with the updated court website that is intended to bring the system into the 21^st century. But some of the regulations actually place stricter controls on access, especially on criminal proceedings when it comes to retrieving documents and information online.

Docket information for most civil cases as well as some limited probate and Housing Court records will be available online through the new website. The old one required an account and password but the new site is accessible to the public. Court officials restricted access to a number of other cases, including Family Court, domestic assaults, and matters involving juveniles.

The most vexing problem for court administrators was what to do about internet access. While the technology advances make it possible for someone in Springfield to get docket information on a case on the Cape, that is what is also presenting the biggest headache for officials.

For criminal cases, court officials say they tried to balance the centuries-old mandate for public access with the Legislature’s intent to limit access to criminal records in line with the beefed-up CORI laws. Allowing internet access would have negated the Legislature’s actions by allowing records to be retrieved at the click of a mouse without any kind of protections or filters. Those looking for records, including reporters and editors, will have to go to clerk’s offices to use the terminals there and then only be able to search by docket number, not by name.

Esme Caramello, faculty director of Harvard Legal Aid Bureau and a tenants’ rights advocate, and Todd Wallack of the Boston Globe, a member of the vaunted Spotlight team who has been at the forefront of reporters’ attempts to bring more transparency to public records, joined us to talk about the new rules.

Caramello says she supports in-person access to court records but says there should be restrictions on internet access because, in her experience, landlords will use the records searches to discriminate against tenants. She says minorities are disproportionately represented in court records and often the dockets contain inaccurate and even false information.

Wallack says the tighter rules make it harder for journalists to do their jobs and inform the public as well as for researchers to get a handle on wider issues involving the criminal justice system. He says while what Caramello says is accurate to an extent, there are already remedies available to correct information as well as prevent and punish misuse of information. He spoke about the Spotlight team’s efforts to report on abusive landlords that were nearly thwarted because of the restricted access to court records.

The exchange merely scratched the surface of this complex issue, but it is an enlightening conversation about how people with differing needs and priorities look at what should and shouldn’t be open to the public.

JACK SULLIVAN

BEACON HILL

Beacon Hill’s five Asian-American lawmakers have formed a caucus. (Boston Globe)

A conservative former member of the Republican State Committee is leading an effort to try get a question on the 2018 ballot proposing repeal of the recently-passed transgender rights law. (Boston Globe)

Massachusetts mayors rally around Attorney General Maura Healey and her crackdown on what she calls copycat assault weapons. (State House News)

A Herald editorial says when the Legislature reconvenes the House should get on board with the Senate and Gov. Charlie Baker and give cities and towns full control over liquor licenses in their communities.

MUNICIPAL MATTERS

Lengthy eviction proceedings preceded Lawrence City Councilor Sandy Almonte’s resignation. (Eagle-Tribune) Myra Ortiz, who finished second to Almonte in the last election, was sworn in to replace her. (Eagle-Tribune)

WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Defense Secretary Ash Carter criticizes a provision in federal law engineered by Massachusetts lawmakers that would require the military to buy only New Balance athletic shoes. (Salem News)

The DEA ended the nearly 50-year monopoly by the University of Mississippi to grow marijuana for research but the drug agency disappointed pot advocates by not rescheduling the weed from a Schedule D drug as some had expected. (U.S. News & World Report)

ELECTIONS

A Globe editorial urges a national police union not to endorse Donald Trump, saying any official backing from law enforcement for the bigoted GOP nominee would further inflame police relations with minority communities.

When it comes to Trump’s knack for self-promotion, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. (New York Times)

The race between Sen. Kelly Ayotte and Gov. Maggie Hassan in New Hampshire is a test of Trump’s effect on down-ballot races. (National Review)

Evan Falchuk’s United Independent Party, which he touted as an alternative to the broken two-party system, is looking more like a flash in the pan, as the party faces an uphill climb get thousands of voters to change their party affiliation by mid-October or it will fade off the books. (Boston Globe)

The Dorchester Reporter follows the twists and turns of the story of Jovan Lacet, a former Boston police officer now running for state representative who says he was unfairly fired from the force, but who Boston police officials say was booted because he committed perjury.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Fan Pier developer Joe Fallon feels like everyone is suddenly picking on him over design and public access issues — after decades of planning and meetings. (Boston Globe)

A state-sponsored report says New Bedford’s State Pier is deteriorating and poorly managed, with many tenants operating under lapsed leases making accurate record and revenue reconciliation impossible. (Standard-Times)

New regulations require imported seafood to meet higher US standards for protecting whales, dolphins, and other marine mammals. (Cape Cod Times)

EDUCATION

The attorney general’s office determined a search committee for school superintendent in Weymouth broke the law when it did its reviews behind closed doors and submitted just one candidate’s name for consideration by the School Committee. (Patriot Ledger)

State education officials approved a request by a new charter school in Brockton to cut the mandated length of the school year by four days because of delays in construction at the originally proposed site. The state says it expects the school to open at a different location. (The Enterprise)

HEALTH/HEALTH CARE

St. Vincent Hospital blames a mistaken and unnecessary kidney removal on an outside physician. (Masslive)

A new report details more horrors in the care of residents at a Brockton nursing home. (Boston Globe)

TRANSPORTATION

MBTA parking revenue is way up during the first six months of this year, but the timing of the increase suggests the boost may be tied to an investigation launched in February that prevented money from being siphoned away. (CommonWealth)

Everett’s mayor is calling for strengthening of the state’s just-passed ride-hailing law after a 16-year-old is allegedly raped by an Uber driver with a long rap sheet. (Boston Herald)

Early Friday morning, a crash involving two tractor-trailer trucks closes nearly all lanes on the Massachusetts Turnpike near Charlton. (Telegram & Gazette) Hours later, two lanes were still closed. (Masslive) An MBTA commuter rail train slows to a crawl in Beverly, causing automobile backups and requiring passengers to board buses. (Salem News)

Fall River officials say newly laid track in the city would have to be ripped up and replaced for South Coast Rail because the current track cannot accommodate the heavier commuter trains. (Herald News)

Boston may lower the default speed limit on city streets to 25 miles per hour after the Legislature gave cities and towns the authority to do so. (Boston Herald)

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

As drought worsens, state officials urge residents to conserve water. (WBUR)

In Rhode Island, the nation’s first offshore wind farm consists of just five turbines but its owner says the project is big enough to demonstrate wind’s potential. (Telegram & Gazette)

The EPA is proposing to scale back protections of the lower section of the Sudbury River in Ashland, once polluted by the Nyanza Chemical Dye plant but now cleaner than the rest of the river. (MetroWest Daily News) Some residents, though, are worried planned development at the Nyanza site could resurface the contaminants and start the pollution nightmare anew. (Greater Boston)

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS

Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. says investigators believe Vanessa Marcotte fought her attacker and may have injured him. (Telegram & Gazette) The daytime killing of Marcotte while out jogging has put new fear into the routine of women runners. (Boston Globe)

Alleged Springfield mobsters say they even have pull in Mayor Domenic Sarno’s office. (Masslive)

Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett criticizes a Supreme Judicial Court decision limiting the restitution judges can order in theft cases. (Salem News)

A report from the Justice Department which blasted the Baltimore police for fostering systemic discrimination against blacks also says there is evidence officers displayed bias against women, often humiliating women who report sexual assaults and failing to gather evidence. (New York Times)