Civil Litigation

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SCI FUNERAL SERVICES OF FLORIDA, INC. And SERVICE CORPORATION INTERNATIONAL v. JOAN LIGHT, SHIRLEY EISENBERG and CAROL PRISCO

27 Fla. L. Weekly D666 (Fla. 4th DCA Mar. 14, 2002)

SCI owns and operates several South Florida cemeteries known as Menorah Gardens. Plaintiffs filed suit against SCI on their behalf and on behalf of similarly situated individuals, alleging that SCI mismanaged the cemeteries and otherwise engaged in wrongful conduct by filling burial plots without sufficient space, burying remains in the wrong plots, and desecrating remains in an effort to wrongfully conceal their mismanagement.

Before discovery began, SCI filed a motion for protective order to exclude persons other than the parties and their attorneys from attending depositions and to prohibit any of the parties their attorneys or court reporters from using or disseminating any information obtained in discovery without prior court approval; and to prohibit the parties or their attorneys from filing with the court any evidentiary matters or information obtained in discovery without first obtaining court approval. The court ordered the depositions closed; however, it permitted the media to obtain the transcripts and video tapes of the depositions directly from the court reporter when finalized.

The court said that it was well settled that while there is no first amendment right of access to pre-trial discovery materials, it does not follow that there is a constitutional right to prevent access to discovery. The court found that there was no departure from the essential requirements of law and thus, denied the petition.

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