May 20, 2021
Scoring a victory for transparency on behalf of a coalition of media outlets, Cornell Law School’s First Amendment Clinic has won the release of more than 20 previously sealed court documents that shed light on the federal prosecution of a former Pennsylvania state legislator.
With co-counsel at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the clinic was representing some of the state’s largest media outlets, including The Philadelphia Inquirer, LNP Media Group and Spotlight PA.
They were seeking records from a case involving then-state representative Leslie Acosta, who in early 2016 was indicted in a scheme to defraud a mental health clinic in one of Philadelphia’s poorest neighborhoods, prior to holding elected office.
THE CITY Sues the Department of Education to Get Brooklyn Yeshiva Investigation Documents
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Hiram Alejandro Durán/THE CITY
THE CITY filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the city Department of Education after the agency refused to provide documents related to its investigation of the content and quality of instruction at Jewish religious schools in Brooklyn.
The DOE launched its probe of the yeshivas in mid-2015 in response to complaints from former students and advocates connected to the group Yaffed, who alleged that little to no instruction in subjects such as English and math was being provided at roughly three dozen Orthodox schools.
THE ISSUE
Today begins Sunshine Week, which highlights the fight for transparency in government and access to public information. Led by the News Leaders Association and organizations including the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, Sunshine Week aims to increase public awareness of open-meetings and open-records laws like Pennsylvaniaâs Right-to-Know Law and Sunshine Act.
The restrictions and challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic didnât stop the work of journalists over the past year but did make it tougher.
Pandemic-related emergencies gave the Wolf administration, for instance, some cover for holding back information.
But journalists at LNP | LancasterOnline and The Caucus â an LNP Media Group watchdog publication focusing on state government â persisted in ensuring that taxpayers knew how government officials were acting and spending money on their behalf.
Clem Murray / Philadelphia Inquirer
Five years after former State Rep. Leslie Acosta quietly pleaded guilty in an embezzlement scheme, much of the case against her remains under a shroud of secrecy.
More than half of the court records in Acosta’s case are sealed, despite widespread criticism that the onetime Philadelphia Democrat was allowed to remain in office, and even run for reelection uncontested, because of the unusual level of secrecy surrounding her 2016 conviction.
A trio of Pennsylvania media organizations Spotlight PA, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and LNP|LancasterOnline are now asking a federal court to unseal those records, highlighting the public’s right to view judicial proceedings and records in criminal cases and arguing that there is a high burden for restricting that access.