It appears that opposing counsel rarely challenges motions to seal documents. Such challenges could serve as a further check to ensure that record sealing is used appropriately. The current system allows judges a great deal of discretion about sealing but makes it difficult for the public to learn how or why they make their decisions. The State of Rhode Island should require case files to contain information about what has been sealed and why, with the highest degree of specificity that does not compromise the confidentiality of sealed records. The State of Rhode Island should adopt a uniform method of identifying cases that contain sealed records.
Ordinary citizens have a self-evident interest in financial settlements made with municipalities.
More to the point, citizens ultimately pay for settlements through taxes, if only in the form of higher insurance premiums. Last year, students at the Taubman Center tested compliance with that law by requesting information about the financial terms of settlements in two cases from every municipality in Rhode Island. They found a compliance rate of 32 percent. They identified 10 such cases through the Rhode Island Interlocal Risk Management Trust and seven more by contacting non-Trust jurisdictions directly. In all, researchers were in contact with 41 jurisdictions and received satisfactory responses from 29, a 71-percent compliance rate.