The Justice System and Journalists

Alright, so it's been a while since I've written, and well, with several baseball games a week and school getting out, I think I have an excuse.  :)  That being said, we have a little boy here in the Portland area who has been missing for almost a month.  The last week of school, he disappeared, and the last person to see him was his step-mom, who dropped him off at school for a science fair... and no one heard from him again.

I'm not going to sit here and reiterate the details of the case, for that you can click here, or you can go to Facebook and join the "Missing Kyron Horman" page.  What gets me, is that Kyron's dad filed for a divorce from his wife, Terri - Kyron's step-mom, and also filed a restraining order against her with regards to their daughter, Kiara.  To me, this shows that there are major issue within this family, and chances are this situation has not been helpful to that. 

Obviously, this is a family in upheaval and turmoil.  There are things going on at their homes that we, as the public don't know about, and quite honestly, we shouldn't know about.  These people aren't celebrities, nor did they sign up for a reality show to document the struggle to find their missing child.

Part of the divorce and restraining order was sealed by the judge, for reasons that were clearly stated by him.  It was along the lines of "finding Kyron is the highest priority, and I'm sealing this so that the investigation is not harmed by the contents of the order".  Plain and simple.  The local media has now filed motions to get that court order unsealed.  Pardon my naivete, but I believe that the Judge said that leaving the order unsealed would be detrimental to the investigation of the missing child.  So, yes, fantastic plan, go ahead and unseal the order, put the kid in greater danger than he already is, and while you're at it, add to the pain of the family. 

The highest priority of all of these people should be finding this little boy, and putting the resources toward that, not spending more time in court.  I completely understand and agree with the news media having access to the information... when it is appropriate.  The judge said that he would unseal the order... when the time was right.  I was a journalism major, I completely agree with the freedom of information act, and the public having access to these types of records, but not during an investigation of a missing child.  There is information in the proceedings that was deemed unnecessary for public knowledge, and the media should be respectful of that.

I don't necessarily support Terri Moulton Horman, I don't know her side of the story.  I always found it a little odd that she was the last one to see him, and then her story didn't line up.  But, that being said, she seems to have been cooperative with police investigators, and hasn't hired a lawyer until two days ago.  To me, those aren't the actions of someone who is necessarily guilty.   

For more information on the latest developments in the case, again, click here, or you can go to the "Missing Kyron Horman" Facebook page.