The words of Wayne and Kathy Harris and of Tom and Sue Klebold hold historic significance, but they also could hold clues into how one of the worst crimes in Colorado history was allowed to occur.
Depositions from the parents of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who gunned down 12 students and a teacher at Columbine High School in 1999, should be unsealed for the public to examine. They most certainly should not be locked away for 25 years at the National Archives, where, after that time elapses, they could end up being shredded, as a judge has proposed.
That action may respect the privacy of the killers’ parents, but it would do little to advance the study and public debate about youth violence and how future Columbines could be avoided. It’s also difficult to imagine that the wishes of the killers’ parents should somehow trump the desires of victims’ parents to possibly learn what led to the senseless slaughter of their loved ones.
The Klebolds and Harrises gave interviews to lawyers in 2003 as part of multiple lawsuits. When the suits were settled, U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Coan ordered the depositions destroyed, saying “there would be no further purpose, need or use for any of the … depositions to remain in existence.”
Fortunately, some families of Columbine victims protested.
Chief U.S. District Judge Lewis Babock has proposed sending them to the National Archives, where they will remain sealed for 25 years. Then, if they’re deemed to have significant social value, they can be released to the public.
While that’s a better option than destroying the documents, if they’re of significant social value 25 years from now, wouldn’t they be of significant social value now?
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers has asked that Delbert Elliot, director of the University of Colorado’s Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, be allowed to review the documents. Elliot, considered a leading expert on youth violence, has been studying Columbine for years and believes the depositions would allow him to better understand what was happening in the Klebold and Harris homes, especially since their childhoods weren’t marked by the typical indicators that lead to violence.
We would urge Babcock, at the very least, to approve that very sensible step – so long as Elliot can issue a report of his findings.
Sealing the depositions only continues to hide what could be a critical piece of the puzzle that Elliot, and others, hope to solve.
