The Sun-Times and Tribune have both carried recent stories describing the tight lid Circuit Judge Vincent Gaughan has kept on the interminable R. Kelly case. Gaughan’s conducted important business with attorneys behind closed doors, he’s silenced attorneys with a gag order, and he’s put court documents under seal — the number is itself a court secret.
On Tuesday the two papers jointly moved to intervene in the case. They want Gaughan to unseal the documents, end the private hearings, and give the media transcripts of those hearings they couldn’t attend. Kelly was charged in 2002 with child pornography — he’s accused of videotaping himself having sex with an underage girl.