The Florida Center for Government Accountability (FLCGA) is pressing the Leon County Circuit Court to explain why its decisions in the Hope Florida grand jury case remain under wraps. On Thursday, the group filed a motion asking the court to clarify the legal grounds for keeping its rulings out of public view.
FLCGA, which also publishes the Florida Trident, and its executive director Michael Barfield, want the court to spell out the legal justification for keeping its own orders sealed in the Hope Florida grand jury matter. The organization says the public deserves to know not just the outcome, but the reasoning behind the court’s decisions.
“The grand jury did its work. A judge has ruled on it. The public is entitled to know what the judge decided and why,” Barfield said in a statement. “The presentment may be confidential under the statute. The judge’s order is not. We are asking the Court to say which of its rulings are sealed, under what authority, and to give us the notice we need to exercise the right it already granted us.”…