A judge has lifted the veil of secrecy when it comes to jurors’ names. The media pushed for it, saying the secrecy violated the spirit of a transparent judicial system.
By Paula Reed Ward
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
PITTSBURGH — The chief judge in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Pennsylvania today revoked a local rule that kept the names of jurors secret.
Judge Donetta W. Ambrose rescinded the July 2006 order based on an opinion by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in August in the criminal case involving former Allegheny County Coroner Dr. Cyril Wecht.
In Dr. Wecht’s trial that began in January, U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab required that the names of the jurors be kept from not only the public but also from the attorneys in the case. He did this, he said, based on overwhelming media attention in the case.
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