The Arizona Supreme Court has rejected a motion to keep the divorce records of U.S. Senate candidate Ruben Gallego and Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego sealed. The highest court of the state denied the motion on Wednesday, upholding previous court decisions that ruled the documents should be made public. The decision was made despite the Gallegos' concerns about privacy, particularly concerning co-parenting plans for their minor child. The records are slated for release on Thursday, as reported by FOX 10 Phoenix.
The quest to unseal the divorce records was sparked by a lawsuit from the Washington Free Beacon, a suit that the Gallegos' attorneys assert was driven by "political motivations." A Yavapai County Court initially determined that the records would be made public in July, a decision that was subsequently backed by the Arizona Court of Appeals last week. Despite an attempt at redacting sensitive information, the courts mandated the release of a version without the redactions, citing that the requirements for keeping the documents sealed were not met by the Gallegos' appeal.
Yavapai County Judge John Napper, after reviewing the divorce files, commented in June that the contents appeared to be rather standard. "I've reviewed this entire file multiple times now, I think everyone is going to be rather deflated with the results of it. This is a... well, I'm not a politician and maybe this will be very, very important information but this looks to me like one of the most garden-variety divorce files I have ever seen," Napper said, as detailed by 12 News. "It's as run of the mine as it gets," he added, hinting at the possible anticlimactic nature of the documents that have sparked such controversy.
