Bill: Pending If You Ask About the Verdict Group Chat, You're Cooked. Act

[zLost]

A
BILL
To
Protect the Confidentiality of Judicial Deliberations​

The people of the Commonwealth of Redmont, through their elected Representatives in the Congress and the force of law ordained to that Congress by the people through the constitution, do hereby enact the following provisions into law:

1 - Short Title and Enactment
(1) This Act may be cited as the 'If You Ask About the Verdict Group Chat, You're Cooked. Act':
(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its signage.
(3) This Act has been authored by ToadKing.
(4) This Act has been sponsored by Representative zLost
(5) This Act has been co-sponsored by Senators Omegabiebel and EATB.

2 - Reasons
(1) To protect the integrity and independence of the judicial deliberation process.
(2) To ensure judges can freely discuss cases without fear of public disclosure.
(3) To maintain public confidence in the impartiality of judicial decision-making.
(4) To prevent the chilling effect that disclosure of deliberations would have on candid judicial discussion.

3 - Amendments
(1) Section 8 of the Classified Materials Act shall be amended by adding the following new subsection:

"8 - Freedom of Information

(1) Where National Security and the proper functioning of Government outweigh the legitimate interests of the Public, classified materials will, within reason as determined by the Judiciary, not be released.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act or any other law, judicial deliberations are exempt from Freedom of Information requests.

(2) Any individual or entity may submit a Freedom of Information (FOI) request for access to material held by any government entity. FOI requests must receive a response within seven (7) days indicating:

(a) Approval and eventual release of the material; or

(b) Denial on the grounds of an unreasonable request.

(3) An FOI request will be deemed unreasonable if:

(a) It seeks information clearly beyond the jurisdiction or knowledge of the office addressed;

(b) It seeks access to material whose disclosure to the requesting individual or entity would clearly pose a risk to National Security or to the lawful operation of Government such that it outweighs public interest; or

(c) It is so vague or broad as to be unfulfillable in practical terms;

(d) It seeks access to judicial deliberations as defined in subsection (1)(a).

(5) FOI requests will be handled by the following parties:

(a) The Attorney General for Executive and General FOI requests;

(b) The Speaker of the House for Congressional FOI requests;

(c) The Chief Justice for Judicial FOI requests;

(d) The FRB Governor for requests made to the FRB.

(6) The Government is obligated to comply with all reasonable FOI requests to the fullest extent possible, including through partial releases, redactions, or summaries where full disclosure would be unlawful or harmful.

(7) Where an FOI request is denied or has failed to receive a response within seven (7) days, the requester may appeal this as follows:

(a) If the request was made to the Executive or Congress, the appeal shall be lodged in the Federal Court in the first instance. The Judiciary shall order the full or partial release of the material if it determines that the request was reasonable. The Court may impose redactions or conditions on any such disclosure.

(b) If the request was made to the Judiciary, the appeal shall be lodged in Congress. A joint closed and classified congressional hearing shall review the request and order the release of material where it finds that the request was reasonable by simple majority vote. Congress may impose redactions or conditions on any such disclosure by simple majority vote.

(8) An individual who discloses classified material without authorisation may claim protection as a whistleblower under the Whistleblowers Act (or subsequent similar Act) where all of the following apply:

(a) The disclosure served a clear and compelling public interest;

(b) No effective or reasonable internal route existed for raising the concern or when this route was used no significant action was taken; and

(c) The individual acted in good faith and not for personal or political gain.

(9) Classification may strictly not be applied for any of the following reasons:

(a) To cover up breaches of laws, rules or regulations;

(b) To prevent or reduce reputational damage, negative publicity or public backlash;

(9) A Court may issue a subpoena to order the disclosure of classified material to a closed or open court as determined by the Judicial Officer.

(a) No court may issue a subpoena to compel disclosure of judicial deliberations from another court or judicial proceeding, except in cases of alleged criminal judicial misconduct.

(10) A Chamber of Congress may issue a subpoena to order the disclosure of any classified material of any branch by a Motion to Subpoena with a simple majority vote. The motion must mention if the disclosure is public or limited to a certain group.

(11) A Congressional Member, acting in their official capacity to provide oversight of government, may issue an FOI request which shall be considered as having a significantly higher public interest. Such requests must:

(a) Clearly indicate that the member is acting in their official capacity and not as a private citizen;

(b) Ensure that any released materials remain appropriately classified within Congress, and not subsequently disclosed;

(c) Avoid creating a significant conflict of interest, which shall be considered additional grounds to deem the request as unreasonable."

 

[Silly Billy(Raz0Baz0)]

Aye - There are no downsides to this bill, protecting the privacy of judicial rulings defends the privacy of all individuals involved.