You expect a lawyer to spin things to the advantage of his client. That’s what Reno lawyer Gary Silverman did when Washoe County Family Court Judge Frances Doherty ruled the law allowing single-party sealing of divorce cases is unconstitutional in general and specifically in the case before her — the divorce of Gov. Jim Gibbons and wife Dawn.
- Gov. Jim Gibbons
Though the governor does not plan to appeal the ruling, Silverman said Doherty’s decision “jeopardizes innocent people to identity theft and criminals, inhibits honest claims on delicate subjects, and has no public use except to encourage voyeurism, gossip and ugliness. Just what the press ordered.”
Avoiding a little voyeurism surely doesn’t trump the openness that assures the taxpayers that justice is being served in our tax-funded public courts. Powerful and wealthy people have enough resources to get their way. The courts should be fair, and the only way to ensure that is to allow public scrutiny.
The courts in all matters should be open to public scrutiny — not just so the gawking masses can be entertained by Peyton Place-like tidbits of moral turpitude or, hypothetically of course, the debate over whether a suitcase full of cash received on a cruise is community property — but because justice is more likely to occur when everyone is accountable to the voters. That includes the judge.
- Dawn Gibbons
Now where have I heard that before?
In arguing against sealing of the divorce, Dawn Gibbons’ attorney Cal Dunlap cited the 14th Amendment, which states, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
- Judge Frances Doherty
Depriving property without due process and equal protection? Can a divorce trial conducted in utter secrecy guarantee due process? Arguably not. And there certainly is no “equal” protection under the law when one party can petition for a secret trial without giving the other party an opportunity for even a hearing.
Now where have I heard that before?
Gossip, sure. Ugly, maybe. The press should be allowed in to assure the one thing on which this country was founded: Justice for all.
