Sunshine in Litigation Act of 2008

A bill to amend chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, relating to protective orders, sealing of cases, disclosures of discovery information in civil actions, and for other purposes.

12/11/2007--Introduced.
Sunshine in Litigation Act of 2007 - Amends the federal judicial code to prohibit a court from entering an order restricting the disclosure of information obtained through discovery, approving a settlement disagreement that would restrict such disclosure, or restricting access to court records in a civil case, unless the court has found that:
(1) such order would not restrict the disclosure of information which is relevant to the protection of public health or safety; or
(2) the public interest in the disclosure of potential health or safety hazards is outweighed by a specific and substantial interest in maintaining the confidentiality of the information, and the requested protective order is no broader than necessary to protect the privacy interest. Prohibits any party from requesting, as a condition for the production of discovery, that another party stipulate to an order that would violate this Act. Prohibits a court from:
(1) approving or enforcing an order prohibited under this Act, or any provision of an agreement between parties to a civil action, that restricts a party from disclosing information to any federal or state agency with authority to enforce laws regulating an activity relating to such information; or
(2) enforcing any provision of a settlement agreement that prohibits a party from disclosing that a settlement was reached or the terms of the settlement, other than the amount paid, or from discussing a case or evidence that involves matters related to public health or safety, except where the court finds that the public interest in disclosure of potential health and safety hazards is outweighed by a confidentiality interest.


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Sponsor

• Sen. Herbert Kohl [D, WI]
• and 2 Co-Sponsors
  • Sen. Lindsey Graham [R, SC]
  • Sen. Patrick Leahy [D, VT]
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Committees

• Senate Judiciary

Amendments

This bill has no amendments.

Amendments to S.2449

Number	Status	Purpose

Bill Status

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Introduced		Voted on by Senate		Voted on by House		Considered By President		Bill Becomes Law
December 11, 2007

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All Bill Actions

• Added to calendar on Aug 01, 2008: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 935..
• Aug 01, 2008: Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Leahy with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 110-439.
• Mar 06, 2008: Committee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported with an amendment favorably.
• Mar 06, 2008: Committee on the Judiciary. Date of scheduled consideration. SD-226. 10:00 a.m.
• Feb 14, 2008: Committee on the Judiciary. Date of scheduled consideration. SD-226. 10:00 a.m.
• Dec 11, 2007: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
• Dec 11, 2007: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S15140-15141)
• Introduced on Dec 11, 2007.

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Related Issue Areas:

• Public health
• Product safety
• Medical care
• Health policy
• 7 more
• Government information
• Evidence (Law)
• Discovery (Law)
• Court records
• Consumers
• Actions and defenses
• Law

Data from the Congressional Research Service

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Blog Coverage

September 24, 2008 Sunshine Litigation Bill Unnecessary

... before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law. The Conference opposes HR 5884 and its companion bill in the Senate, S. 2449, because they bypass the Rules Enabling Act process established by Congress.

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Source: The Third Branch: Newsletter of the Federal Courts

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July 10, 2008 Ending Child Labor

To review the Act, go to; http://thomas.loc.gov and type in the following Bill Number: S. 2449. Dear NAME OF YOUR SENATOR HERE: I write to you as a concerned citizen and I am asking for your support. Each year thousands of persons are ...

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Source: KIDS AND TEENS

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March 24, 2008 Unsealing Safety

This commonsense bill, the Sunshine in Litigation Act, S. 2449, would prevent federal courts from sealing court records, discovery materials and settlement agreements when the public interest in information concerning the public health ...

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Source: Watchdog Blog

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