Republic Seeks Info in `New Times' Case

``The Arizona Republic" has gone to court, asking that all court filings in the case that led to last week's arrests of two "New Times" executives be unsealed and that all future proceedings be opened to the public.

In an editorial Sunday, the Republic said attorneys for Phoenix Newspapers Inc., its publisher, and Channel 12 (KPNX-TV) filed a motion Friday, seeking access to transcripts and court filings.

The Republic quoted its motion as saying that public access and information ``will enable the public to judge for itself whether the officials involved have acted appropriately and whether the grand jury process itself has been abused."

In its editorial, The Republic said it "often is leery of New Times' style of free-for-all journalism. But, in this appalling overreach of government intrusion, both the New Times and the public were grievously wronged."

New Times owners Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin were arrested last Thursday on misdemeanor charges of revealing grand jury information. The arrests came after the newspaper published a story about grand jury subpoenas for its stories about Sheriff Joe Arpaio and for all readers of its website. The charges were dropped within hours by Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, who said "mistakes were made."