I'm noticing that some United States District Courts are now issuing opinions in adult Social Security cases which identify the plaintiff only by first name and last initial. It seems to be more than one Judge or District doing this. It’s being done to protect privacy. I'm sure that anyone who really wanted to could look in the Court's records and discover the real name. This would just protect privacy on Westlaw, the major online database of Court opinions. I just noticed it. I can't think it's been around long. It's not being done in any of the North Carolina Districts. Does anyone know where this started?
3 comments:
It was a Judicial Conference recommendation (not binding on courts). The August 2018 NOSSCR Forum has an article about it.
I've noticed the Southern District of Indiana has been using this method for a few months now. The chief judge also noted the Judicial Conference and recommended all cases in the S.D.Ind. follow the recommendation for privacy.
EEOC administrative decisions now use a pseudonym. Why can't the Federal courts do that?
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