Oregon Public Broadcasting

Six news organizations have taken legal action to get access to secret Boy Scout files. 

The documents are evidence in a sex-abuse trial against the Scouts taking place in Portland.

A Portland jury has already found the Scouts liable for negligence that led to sexual abuse.  Now the jury is considering how much the scouts should pay in punitive damages.

Earlier this week, six news organizations filed a motion to intervene in the case.  Oregon Public Broadcasting is among the six. And so are The Associated Press, The New York Times, and The Oregonian.

The groups are asking Judge John Wittmayer to release Boy Scout files on perversion used as evidence in the trial.

The motion says the Oregon Constitution outlaws secrecy in the courts.

The Boy Scouts of America was not available for comment. But during the trial Scouts defense attorney Charles Smith told Judge Wittmayer he would renew a protective order on the files.