Settlement Leads to Unethical Agreement to Delete Judicial Opinions from Legal Databases

The settlement of the case of Klein v. AMTRAK (below) is contrary to public policy.
The settlement requires that no less than eight (8) judicial opinions be deleted from LEXIS and WESTLAW databases.

It is wrong. It is just plain wrong. There are moral absolutes, even in litigation. One of them is that parties don't have a right to remove, alter or destory government documents

It reminds me of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission Administrative Law Judge who okayed destruction of the court reporter's transcript and tapes of a three day whistleblower hearing, because the parties settled and wanted it thattaway.
The destroyed records would have been helpful to future litigants at a coal mine where inadequate roof bolting -- and retaliation against miners -- was at issue. The Washington Post carried a story on this outrage on December 24, 1988 (p. A-2).

Courts must not be cat's paws for the powerful or reactive rubberstamps for litigations who demand to destroy government records or erase judicial decisions.

Congress must investigate. Congress must step in and use its rulemaking authority to amend the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, for as JFK said, "The very word 'secrecy' is repugnant in a free and open society...."