By Mal Leary, Capitol News Service
Bangor Daily News

AUGUSTA, Maine — After several months of discussions with fellow judges, Chief Justice Leigh Saufley believes Maine does not have any "secret dockets" or improperly "sealed records" but said she cannot be absolutely sure because court records are decentralized.

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She said "a few" cases have come on appeal to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court that were sealed and the court required "show cause" orders for the parties to justify the record staying closed. She said that in one case concerning trade secrets, the parties wanted to seal the entire case including the arguments before the Law Court.

"We rejected that," she said. "Only those documents that were trade secrets were kept confidential."

Saufley said she and the chiefs of the Superior Court and District Court have spent substantial time talking with other judges and, in some instances, checking actual records to make sure Maine does not have the problems that have surfaced in other states.