Herb Kohl: “I rise today to offer the Sunshine in Litigation Act, a measure that addresses the growing abuse of secrecy orders…”

“I rise today to offer the Sunshine in Litigation Act, a measure that addresses the growing abuse of secrecy orders issued by our Federal courts. All too often our Federal courts allow vital information that is discovered in litigation--and which directly bears on public health and safety--to be covered up, to be shielded from people whose lives are potentially at stake, and from the public officials we have asked to protect our health and safety. All this happens because of the use of so-called protective orders-- really gag orders issued by courts--that are designed to keep information discovered in the course of litigation secret and undisclosed. Typically, injured victims agree to a defendant's request to keep lawsuit information secret. They agree because defendants threaten that, without secrecy, they will refuse to pay a settlement. Victims cannot afford to take such chances. And while courts in these situations actually have the legal authority to deny requests for secrecy, typically they do not--because both sides have agreed, and judges have other matters they prefer to attend to. So judges are regularly and frequently entering these protective orders, using the power of the Federal Government to keep people in the dark about the dangers they face. The measure that I am introducing today will bring crucial information out of the darkness and into the light.”