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on Thursday upheld a lower court's decision to make public 1,247 Boy Scout sex abuse files that a Portland jury got to see during trial.

The Supreme Court, however, said that the names of Boy Scouts who had been molested by their volunteer leaders and the names of people who reported numerous cases of suspected abuse from 1965 to 1985 must be removed before the public can see the records.

The Oregonian, The Associated Press, The New York Times and other news organizations sued for the release of the files that were key pieces of evidence in a 2010 trial of an Oregon man who was one of many boys molested by Portland Scouting volunteer Timur Dykes in the 1980s.

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The files showed that the Boy Scouts of America was aware of a decades-old problem of child molesters volunteering within its ranks, yet it covered up the abuse and let some volunteers continue to work with children. The jury awarded nearly $20 million to Kerry Lewis for life-long psychological suffering and to the state in punitive damages.

Lewis and other victims of Dykes later settled with the Boy Scouts of America for an undisclosed amount, a move that avoided an appeal and future trials.

“Child abuse thrives in secrecy, and secret systems are its putrid breeding ground,” said Kelly Clark, one of the attorneys who represented Lewis. “As a jury in Philadelphia continues to consider a massive cover-up by the Catholic Church and as another in the Jerry Sandusky trial hears evidence about the actions of an apparent serial pedophile, the Court’s decision demonstrates that our society will no longer

tolerate institutions of trust keeping secrets about hidden dangers to children."

, however, could have wider implications in other cases. The court ruled that not everything a jury sees -- such as the names of sex abuse victims -- is public.

That could open the door for trial courts to keep exhibits from public view even if they were discussed or flashed on screens during open court proceedings.

Charles Hinkle, an attorney representing the news organizations, said he was pleased that the files will be released, but he was disappointed with the court's interpretation of the Oregon Constitution.

"The state constitution prohibits 'secret' courts, and the Court held today that this provision does not guarantee that the public has a right to see the evidence that a jury sees when it decides a case," Hinkle wrote in an email. "Courts should not be permitted to base their decisions on secret evidence, but the Supreme Court today ruled that the Oregon Constitution does not prohibit that possibility."

Peter Janci, one of the Portland attorneys who represented Kerry Lewis and other sex abuse victims, said there are many types of cases in which parties to a case may not want trial exhibits handed over to the public:

Sex abuse cases, including the Jerry Sandusky trial in a Pennsylvania courtroom; employment discrimination cases where a corporation may worry others will sue if they learn there's a pattern of discrimination against a class of employees; and product liability lawsuits when others injured by a product may not realize there's a design flaw.

"There are dozens of cases around the country where this issue is being considered by trial courts," Janci said. "I think this (the Supreme Court opinion) is going to be closely studied by other judges."

It likely will be weeks before release of the Boy Scout files. For one, someone will have to go through some 20,000 pages of documents to redact names.

In a written statement, Scouts spokesman Deron Smith expressed some uneasiness over the Supreme Court's opinion because it may expose victims to unwanted public attention.

In a video posted on the Boy Scouts' website, Chief Scouting Executive Bob Mazzuca said, "We have kept these files confidential because we believe victims deserve protection and that confidentiality encourages prompt reporting of questionable behavior, it removes the fear of retribution and ensures victims and their families the privacy that they deserve."

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