Criminal cases and convictions are supposed to be public record. But in Broward County, some felons' cases have been put on a secret docket where the public can't see what's in them or even know they exist.

The Miami Herald has identified three criminal cases against two felons - one whose long rap sheet includes rape and arson - that do not appear on Broward's public case docket. Criminal division Chief Judge Charles Greene said he is "sure there are others."

The removal of cases and case numbers from the public docket is at odds with basic legal principles regarding the openness of courts and has been found unconstitutional. Yet since 2001, more than 100 civil lawsuits have been concealed in Broward Circuit Court, The Miami Herald reported in April. Civil cases have also been hidden in Palm Beach and Pinellas counties.

JUDGE'S ORDER

Now it appears that the practice is also happening in the criminal courts. After learning about the three criminal cases from The Miami Herald, Judge Greene on Tuesday ordered the clerk's office to put them on the public docket. Hiding those cases, he said, was "not contemplated nor authorized." He has also asked the clerk's office to find out how many other criminal cases have been improperly kept off the docket.

The two felons whose cases were removed are named in public court records as informants and state witnesses.

Concealing the criminal cases of government witnesses undermines defendants' right to a fair trial by obstructing their ability to discover information about their accusers, defense attorneys say.

The president of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Jeffrey Harris, calls the practice of hiding criminal cases "very troubling." He plans to raise the matter at the August board meeting of the 1,500-member group.

PUBLIC RECORD

Keeping cases off the public docket, sometimes called "super-sealing, " also warps the public record that businesses and individuals rely on to hire employees and to vet customers.

Banks, for example, could be prevented from learning that a person being considered for a loan had committed bank fraud. Or parents seeking to hire a baby sitter might not discover a job candidate's prior drug use.

Super-sealing is bad for business, said Tom Cash, who runs the Miami office of risk consulting firm Kroll Associates. "It's a matter of suppressing diligence, any type of financial due diligence, " Cash said.

Greene and Dale Ross, chief judge of Broward courts, said they were not aware that some criminal cases were not on the docket until they were contacted by reporters. Nor was Broward State Attorney Mike Satz, a spokesman said.

"We know nothing about a process that would lead to criminal cases being totally removed from the court docket, " said the spokesman, Ron Ishoy.

WHAT THE LAW ALLOWS

Florida law allows judges to seal sensitive case information, to protect informants from harm and for other reasons. But no authority exists for judges to erase the very existence of a convicted criminal's case.

There is a law that allows arrests to be removed from the public record - a process called "sealing and expunction" - under certain conditions. The law is intended to protect the reputations of people who are arrested but not convicted of crimes.

Convicted criminals are not eligible for such treatment. But the clerk's office nevertheless has used the expunction law to hide such cases.