Records; limited inspection; penalties for unlawful disclosure or use

§ 11–1586. Records; limited inspection; penalties for unlawful disclosure or use (a) The Juvenile Court shall maintain records of all cases brought before the court pursuant to subchapter I of chapter 23 of Title 16. The records shall be withheld from indiscriminate public inspection but shall be open to inspection only by respondents, their parents or guardians and their duly authorized attorneys, and by the institution or agency to which the respondent under 18 years of age may have tan committed pursuant to sections 16–2307 and 16–2308. Pursuant to rule or special order of the court, other interested persons, institutions, and agencies may inspect the records. As used in this subsection, records includes: (1) notices filed with the court by arresting officers pursuant to section 16–2306; (2) the docket of the court, and entries therein; (3) the petitions, complaints, informations, motions, and other papers filed in a case; (4) transcripts of testimony taken in a case tried by the Court: (5) findings, verdicts, judgments, orders and decrees; and (6) other writings filed in proceedings before the court, other than social records. (b) The records or parts thereof made by officers of the court pursuant to sections 11–1525 and 16–2302, referred to in subsection (a) of this section as social records, shall be withheld from indiscriminate public inspection, except that they shall be made available by rule or special order of court to such persons, governmental and private agencies, and institutions as have a legitimate interest in the protection, welfare, treatment, and rehabilitation of the child under 18 years of age, and to any court before which the child may appear. The court may also provide by rule or a judge may provide by special order that any such person or agency may make or receive copies of the records or parts thereof. Persons, agencies, or institutions receiving records or information pursuant to this subsection may not publish or use them for any purpose other than that for which they were received. (c) Whoever, except for the purposes permitted and in the manner provided by subsections (a) and (b) of this section, discloses, receives, or makes use of, or authorizes, knowingly permits, participates tn, or acquiesces in, the use of information concerning a juvenile before the court, directly or indirectly derived from the records, papers, files, or communications of the court, or acquired in the course of official duties, upon conviction thereof, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be fined not more than $100 or imprisoned not more than ninety days, or both. 77 Stat. 502 (d) Prosecutions pursuant to subsection (c) of this section shall be brought in the name of the District of Columbia in the District of Columbia Court of General Sessions by the Corporation Counsel or any of his assistants. As used in this subsection, Corporation Counsel has the same meaning as that prescribed by section ll–1583(b). (e) Except on order of the court, the records or proceedings in a case arising under subchapter II of chapter 23 of Title 16 may not be open to inspection by anyone other than the defendant or counsel of record. The court, upon proper showing, may authorize the clerk to furnish certified copies of the records or portions thereof to the defendant, the mother, or custodian of the child, a party in interest, or their duly authorized attorneys. The clerk may furnish certified copies of the records or portions thereof, upon request, to the United States attorney for the District of Columbia for use as evidence in nonsupport proceedings as provided by sections 11–523, 11–1556, 16–2355, and 16–2381 and to the Director of Public Health as provided by section 16–2354(a).