DENVER—A federal appeals court panel has upheld a judge’s decision to keep statements made by the parents of the teenage gunmen who attacked Columbine High School sealed for 20 years.
U.S. District Judge Lewis T. Babcock ruled in April 2007 that depositions by the parents of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold would remain sealed for two decades in the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration. The depositions were made for a lawsuit that was settled out of court.
Babcock’s ruling also blocked a school violence expert from reviewing the documents.
The parents of two Columbine victims appealed, saying the depositions belonged to the parents who filed the lawsuit and should remain in their custody. They argued Babcock incorrectly determined the documents qualified as “records” under the Federal Records Act and had no authority to transfer them to the National Archives and Records Administration.
In a 2-1 decision filed Monday, a 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel disagreed. The panel said that because the depositions were deposited with a special master, they were “received” by the district court and were therefore records covered by the Federal Records Act.
