News Journal Settles Case

News Journal Settles Records Case

       The (Wilmington) News Journal is within days of reaching an out of court settlement in a case involving criminal statistical information, said Managing Editor Randall Beck at the end of November.
      The newspaper is working with the attorney general and governor’s offices to negotiate a portion of the original request made information held by the Delaware Criminal Justice Information System (DCJIS).
      The agreement probably will not include the original 300 fields of information requested, but should give the paper enought odo what it wants, said Beck.
      A Delaware appeals court shot down The News Journal’s request earlier this fall. The court ruled that surrendering such a large amount of information to the newspaper would necessarily invade someone’s privacy.
      In 1993, the paper requested statistical information held by DCJIS about every criminal conviction since 1972.
      The names of the defendants or other means of identification were not requested by The News Journal. The DCJIS denied the request, claiming criminal records are exempt from the Delaware Freedom of Information Act.
      The newspaper sued the agency in an attempt to gain access. The Superior Court decided the case in favor of the state without setting a trial date and the appeals court upheld the lower court.