Federal judge refuses Indiana inmate’s request to hide his crimes from other inmates
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A federal judge has refused to conceal the name of an Indiana prison inmate who hoped to have his crimes hidden from fellow inmates.
Judge James Hanlon rejected Michael W. Morgan’s emergency request to seal federal court records or allow Morgan to use a pseudonym.
Morgan had filed a federal lawsuit asking that the Indiana Department of Correction remove his crimes from the offender list on the agency’s website.
Morgan claimed other inmates had searched the publicly available database and physically attacked him as a result of what they found.
Morgan is serving a 30-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of child molesting with a victim under the age of 14.
Online court records show prosecutors dropped 26 other counts against him in the case.
“Inmates have multiple avenues to learn what crime precipitated Mr. Morgan’s imprisonment,” Judge Hanlon wrote. “Removing his name from this action and sealing its records would close only one. Because he had no legal right to prevent the IDO from publishing its crime of conviction, the searchable inmate database — which Mr. Morgan characterizes as the principal source of that information — will remain open.”
The IDOC website lists Morgan’s earliest possible release date as Feb. 7, 2047.