Tag: Columbine

Archives wants Columbine records here:

The National Archives have suggested holding the depositions of the Columbine Killers’ parents for 20 years, but after the 20 years, they would unseal the records.

The agency said that any materials from Columbine given to it would be of significant historical value and would never be destroyed. Archives officials said their general philosophy is open access to records.

The agency’s proposal was in response to U.S. District Judge Lewis Babcock’s suggestion that the Columbine depositions be sent to the National Archives, where they would remain sealed for 25 years.

Then, Babcock proposed, the National Archives would decide if the depositions are of significant social value. If they are, the agency could release them to the public. If not, they’d be destroyed.

The National Archives said, however, that after receiving court records, the normal practice of its Denver center is to assume legal custody after 20 years. Then it normally gives the public full access to the records, it said. But if Babcock rules to seal the records for a longer period of time, the agency said it would abide by his wishes.

That’s better than having them destroyed after 25 years, but still not acceptable. The depositions must be made public, and they must be made public now.

The Denver Post agrees with me.

On Monday in Boulder, Del Elliott prepared congressional testimony about stopping violence among teenagers.

On Monday in Salt Lake City, an 18-year-old hid a shotgun and a pistol under his trench coat and randomly killed five people and seriously wounded four at a shopping mall.

Are you paying attention, Judge Babcock? Lewis Babcock is the federal jurist who will soon decide whether to seal the civil depositions of the parents of Columbine High School killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold for 25 years.

Babcock or anyone else who thinks that nothing bad can come from blocking access to those documents for a quarter-century is deaf and blind.

The Utah shootings didn’t occur in a school. But the trench-coated teenage perp who went on a seemingly casual killing spree reeks of Columbine.

In 25 years or even 20, the depositions will provide no answers. We need those answers, and we need them now. I’m still puzzled as to why Judge Babcock wants to keep them sealed for a quarter of a century. That’s too long for victims and their families to get answers.

Archives vanishing act:

This is an editorial from Rocky Mountain News that gives some great reasons for making the depositions of the Columbine killers’ parents public…

The Rocky, along with several families of the victims, have repeatedly called for the depositions to be made public. They offer the only sworn statements from the killers’ parents that could reveal what they knew about the boys before their murderous spree – including what information they shared with school or law enforcement officials in advance.

Disclosing these records would reopen many wounds. But it could also provide insights that could warn others.

If Babcock is not inclined simply to release the depositions – the best option, in our view – in part because of privacy concerns, there is an alternative. The judge could order the depositions sealed in the archives until the deaths of the Harrises and the Klebolds.

This would allow some additional aspects of the tragedy to eventually be explained. And anything that casts more light on the thinking of the killers and those who knew them best, however belated the disclosure, is a goal worth pursuing.

That definitely makes a lot more sense than sending the depositions to the National Archives for 25 years only to be destroyed.

Normally, I’m not conspiracy minded but between Sheriff Ted Mink and now Judge Babcock, it seems like that all law enforcement and all those involved seem to be covering something up.

Judge: Seal Columbine papers for 25 years:

U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Babcock has suggested that the depositions given by the parents of Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold should be sent to the National Archives and be kept sealed for 25 years.

In 2002, the parents of Columbine killer Eric Harris gave more than 16 hours of depositions in connection with a lawsuit by Columbine survivor Mark Taylor against Solvay Pharmaceuticals, maker of Luvox.

Taylor claimed that Luvox, an anti-depressant, made Harris homicidal and suicidal. However, Taylor dropped the lawsuit in February 2003 after Solvay agreed to contribute $10,000 to the American Cancer Society.

The other depositions of Harris’ parents and the parents of Dylan Klebold took place over a four-day period in August 2003 in connection with a lawsuit filed by the families of five slain Columbine students. But, like the Solvay lawsuit depositions, the depositions were sealed when those families reached a settlement with the Harris and Klebold families.

The depositions have since been sitting in a highly secured evidence room at the federal courthouse awaiting a decision by Babcock about what should be done with them.

After 25 years, the National Archives would decide if the depositions are of significant social value and could release them to the public. Otherwise, they’d be destroyed, according to evidence presented at today’s hearing.

Babcock said he wouldn’t make a final decision until all sides had an opportunity to file written responses with him. He gave the parties a two-week deadline to file motions.

I understand that depositions in privately settled lawsuits are supposed to remain sealed, but this is a special case.

I’ll be honest with you. I can think of no legal reason why the depositions should be made public. I only want to see them released for my own personal curiosity.

In my opinion, it’s already been proven that the Harrises dropped the parenting ball. I just want to see how many opportunities they had to prevent the massacre but didn’t.