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Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Ind. Courts - "Judge halts public access to Shine divorce papers"

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reports today:

A special judge has sealed the divorce filings of Allen County Republican Party Chairman Steve Shine.

LaGrange Circuit Judge J. Scott VanDerbeck granted Shine’s request, issuing an order sealing the file Dec. 22. VanDerbeck was appointed special judge in the case after Shine’s wife, Laura Beth, filed for divorce Dec. 4 and asked that a special judge be appointed because of her husband’s local political clout. * * *

In court documents, Steve Shine’s attorney, Stephen Rothberg, wrote that Laura Beth Shine’s motive was to damage her husband and help her attorney, Mike Loomis, carry out a “vendetta” against her husband.

The ill will between Loomis and Steve Shine dates to 2001, when Shine endorsed current Allen County Prosecutor Karen Richards in the Republican primary. Loomis also was a candidate for prosecutor. Loomis, a former Allen County chief deputy prosecutor, later sued Shine for defamation in connection with statements he made during the campaign, a lawsuit Shine eventually won in 2005.

Loomis could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but in a previously filed response to Rothberg, Loomis wrote that the Shine children already knew of the filings and that the public’s right to know was more compelling than Steve Shine’s “personal/political need” to seal the file.

This brings to mind a 2003 story involving a divorce filed in Hamilton County. See this April 15, 2003 ILB entry, along with the 6/16/2004 ILB entry on the decision in Ernst & Young, et al. v. Indianapolis Star (6/16/04 IndCtApp). For even more, see this June 18, 2004 entry on the release of divorce records, discussing a California case, and this one from Jan. 5, 2006 regarding a New Hampshire ruling. Note that most of these cases involve financial records.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 3, 2007 08:46 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts