PAYWALL OF JUSTICE: ORANGE COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT
After stonewalling for nearly a year, the Orange County Superior Court (OCSC) has hit investigative journalist Julie M. Anderson Holburn with a stunning $4,240 fee for a single public records report. The court’s months-long delays, bogus legal excuses, false retention claims, and personal attacks reveal a disturbing pattern: deny, deflect, retaliate. Holburn’s requests—clearly protected under California Rule of Court 10.500—seek basic family court administrative data already available on courthouse terminals. But instead of compliance, OCSC has chosen obfuscation. At stake is not just transparency, but the constitutional right of every Californian to know what their courts are doing.
