Confidential Court Documents Not All That Confidential

Last week, CBS 3 broke the story that allegedly confidential court documents were lining Broad Street in the early morning. With a Local Emmy in sight, reporter Jim Osman acted as if someone had dropped an atomic bomb on Philadelphia and ended his report with “Someone has some splainin’ to do!”

Well, it turns out that the documents aren’t really confidential after all. Take it away, Daily News:

What Lawrence found were piles of criminal histories, documents that get printed out every day for each and every criminal case on the daily docket. Prosecutors, public defenders, the courts and private attorneys all get these documents.

“These weren’t official court documents. There was nothing confidential or sensitive about them,” Lawrence said. “You could go to the clerk’s office and get a copy of one.”

Thanks, Walt, for the splainin’.

Court records make mess, litter-ally [Daily News]
Aug. 18: Just Wait Until The Candy Machine Goes Too Fast And Jim Osman Has To Start Putting Them In His Mouth