Transparency important in court

In a day when President Obama releases once-secret documents pertaining to harsh U.S. interrogation techniques and DuPage County government makes the payment of every bill it pays accessible on your home computer, it's troubling to see a cloak of secrecy around something we've all come to know as public.

The death penalty case of Brian J. Dugan, who is charged with the murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico of Naperville 25 years ago, is something that you won't be able to learn about as you would other capital cases.

In other cases, we've seen judges instruct witnesses or attorneys to avoid talking to the media, sequester jurors to keep them from hearing or reading about parts of cases that aren't in the court record or move the case to another city to ensure there are a dozen potential jurors who haven't already made up their minds.

But we can't think of a case that we've covered - including those of George Ryan or Conrad Black - in which the judge has created so many of these roadblocks to access as DuPage Circuit Judge George Bakalis has in the Dugan case.

Bakalis has told the attorneys not to talk, sealed the entire case file and has held long pretrial hearings behind closed doors. All to ensure that Dugan receives a fair trial with an impartial jury.

We want that, too.

This is a murder case in which two men had been convicted, served 10 years on death row and been exonerated. This is a case in which seven DuPage County law enforcement officials were charged with malicious prosecution and acquitted. It's natural, in this case, for the general public to cast a wary eye at how justice is decided.

Legal affairs writer Christy Gutowski wrote this week about the limitations Judge Bakalis has put on the case. And the first online comment on the story read, "Protecting the accused's right to a fair trial is more important than catering to the press. So you can complain and moan about the judge's ruling and write hit pieces like this, but the bottom line is that everything possible must be done to protect the accused's rights."

This is more than a freedom of the press issue. This is a public access issue.

Most people rely on the news media to explain how justice is meted out in the courts. It's no less important for the public to have access to the workings of the judiciary as it is the legislative and executive branches of government.

Attorneys who defended Oprah Winfrey in her "mad cow" defamation suit and Juan Luna in the Brown's Chicken murders told Gutowski they advocate more open proceedings.

"In a case like Mr. Dugan's, when there's been so many missteps, the public can't have confidence in and have an understanding of what's going on if the press is shut out," Oprah attorney Chip Babcock said.

Jeanine's parents won't discuss the issue of access. All they'll say is they want the truth.

That's our goal, too.