Hearing Set For Shadid Divorce Records Request
Hearing on secrecy dispute set for Dec. 20
By Nolan Clay
A divorce judge has scheduled a hearing for Dec. 20 on a dispute over whether mayoral candidate Ed Shadid’s sealed divorce records should be made public.
In one of the sealed records, Shadid invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.
In a legal motion filed Wednesday, The Oklahoman asked Oklahoma County Special Judge Lisa Hammond for access “on behalf of itself and the public” to the entire court file.
“Those documents may contain information that the voters want or need to know to make an informed voting decision,” The Oklahoman’s attorney, Robert D. Nelon, wrote in the motion.
“It is the media whose institutional function is to bring information of public concern to the public,” Nelon wrote. “Even though Shadid has sent out campaign literature in which he vows to stand for ‘absolute transparency and accountability in government,’ he seeks to prevent public access to court documents that were filed of record.”