PHOENIX - Ruben and Kate Gallego can't shield their divorce records from the public.
In a ruling late Wednesday, the Arizona Supreme Court rejected a bid by the couple to delay an order by Yavapai County Superior Court Judge John Napper to release most of what's in the documents from the 2016 filing. Their attorneys wanted time to convince the justices that they should give them a chance to argue that Napper was wrong.
“The court concludes that the Gallegos have not established a strong likelihood of success on the merits,'' wrote Justice Clint Bolick for the unanimous court. “Nor have they established irreparable harm with any degree of specificity if the stay is not granted.''
And Bolick said the couple have failed to provide evidence there are serious legal questions to be addressed - or that their hardships from having the information released is sufficiently greater than the argument by The Washington Free Beacon that withholding the information harms the public interest.
How quickly the documents could be made public is unclear. Napper had previously said he will order them released Friday.
Wednesday's order comes despite arguments by attorney Daniel Arellano that they should err on keeping the documents secret, at least while they decide the merits of the case.
"Wrongly unsealing any portion of the underlying divorce record is irreparable and cannot later be cured if any decision was made in error,'' the attorney wrote in the new pleadings.
"This court, or any court, cannot 'unring' the proverbial bell once previously sealed information is unsealed, '' Arellano told the justices. "Even if this court were to reverse the superior court's decision, the Gallegos' rights to keep parts of the record sealed or redacted would have been rendered moot without a stay.''
At the very least, what the couple wants is time to make their case that much of what is in the file should not be shared with the public.
"This court must issue a stay to allow the Gallegos an opportunity to seek review and for the court to consider the petition,'' Arellano said. "Without a stay, the damage will be immense and irreparable.''
Attorneys for the Beacon, an online conservative website that often attacks Democrats, filed their own response late Wednesday. They told the justices that the Gallegos have not met the legal requirements to seek a delay in release of the filings in the divorce case.
And, if nothing else, the lawyers said that there is a harm in delay and the couple's bid to send the case back to Napper.
"That process will mean the media and the electorate get nothing from these presumptively public records until after all votes are cast,'' they said. "That harm to the media and voters is time-sensitive and irreparable, starting a week ago with the commencement of early voting, a problem that will deepen each day until Nov. 5.''
Ruben Gallego is on the ballot in his bid for U.S. Senate and Kate Gallego.
We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org .
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