Nonprofit Files Suit Against Chancery Courtby Kara Nuzback
The Delaware Coalition for Open Government (DelCOG) was founded in 2006 as a nonprofit organization that promotes public access to government. They believe that a preeminent Delaware court is in violation of the U.S. Constitution, and on October 25th, they filed a federal complaint against Delaware Court of Chancery, five Chancery Court judges, and the State of Delaware. Delaware Court of Chancery is considered to be a leading court in the nation for the resolution of business disputes. The suit says the court’s closed-door policy for certain cases violates the public’s First Amendment right to access judicial proceedings and records.
DelCOG President John Flaherty said the complaint stemmed from a September 29th article from Bloomberg News. In the article, Skywork Solution Inc., a company that makes semiconductors, and Advanced Analogic Technologies Inc., chipmakers, both filed petitions for arbitration after a merger agreement between the companies went south. Flaherty said the Skywork case is the fifth case to use the closed-door process, but it is the first time a company has announced publicly it intends to use the process. “These filings are secret,” Flaherty said.
In a statement released by Chancellor Leo Strine, one of the judges named as a defendant in the case, Strine said the law was meant to make the state a more desirable place to locate businesses and corporations. Strine wrote, “Throughout American history, it has long been recognized that not all aspects of the judicial process are subject to public access, and the courts of this state regularly mediate disputes among citizens, including businesses, and can only do so effectively if the confidentiality of the processes is respected.” But Flaherty said the public should have access to all court proceedings in the state. “Delaware’s Constitution is clear—it says all courts shall be open,” he said. “There are no exceptions in the Constitution for that.”
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