Gawker files for unsealing O'Reilly's $10M civil suit against his ex-wife
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http://gawker.com/gawker-is-filing-to-unseal-the-10-million-lawsuit-bill-1784316396
[font size=5]Gawker Is Filing to Unseal the $10 Million Lawsuit Bill O’Reilly Wants to Keep Secret[/font]
You may have heard that Bill O’Reilly is suing his ex-wife, Maureen McPhilmy, for upwards of $10 million over vague claims that she somehow defrauded him in their divorce agreement in order to fund an “existing extra-marital relationship.” What you probably haven’t heard is that a New York judge recently granted the 66-year-old Fox News host’s demand to place the entire case under seal—effectively preventing the public from evaluating the merits of a civil lawsuit filed by a public figure against a private citizen. This week, Gawker Media petitioned the court to vacate that ruling and open up the proceedings. ....
...under New York State law, nearly all family court proceedings at the local level are kept confidential.
Proceedings in civil court, on the other hand, are generally an open book. Federal and state judiciaries have held for decades that the First Amendment covers the right of the public and the press to access court records. But at O’Reilly’s request, his latest offensive against McPhilmy—a civil case alleging fraud, not a family dispute—is being conducted in secret. ....
Fame does not grant a litigant the license to a closed courtroom, nor to bring a $10 million lawsuit against another person, famous or otherwise, within it. Accordingly, Gawker Media officially filed a motion to intervene and vacate Mahon’s order on July 26. O’Reilly’s attorneys have until August 17 to respond.
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= new reply since forum marked as read
What a guy. 
