The Scoop

Ken Armstrong, Justin Mayo and Steve Miletich of the Seattle Times have the first in a series of reports on sealed court cases in Washington State. “Since 1990, at least 420 civil suits have been sealed in their entirety. That means everything – from the complaint, which says who’s accused of what, to the judgment, which says how the case wound up – has been concealed, locked behind electronic passwords or number-coded keypads that restrict access to computer records and shelved files.” The paper has pledged to get the case files unsealed, and published this note on methodology.