Court Seals Simpson Children’s Case : Custody: Records and hearings are closed to the public. Order cites need to protect youngsters’ privacy.

A court commissioner ordered Friday that the guardianship case involving the children of O.J. Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson remain sealed, saying the measure is needed to protect the privacy of the two youngsters.

The ruling extends to any posting of upcoming court hearings, which could bring a flood of media attention to the courthouse and harm the privacy rights of the two young Simpson children, Sydney and Justin, Orange County Commissioner Thomas H. Schulte said.

“These children are in such a very unique circumstance,” Schulte said during a hearing in a Superior Court probate department.

The commissioner sealed all documents and closed proceedings Oct. 4 after a Los Angeles jury acquitted O.J. Simpson in the slayings of his ex-wife and her friend Ronald Lyle Goldman.

The parents of Nicole Brown Simpson had filed a petition seeking legal guardianship of the children in July, 1994, after the former football star’s arrest.

Since then, Louis and Juditha Brown of Dana Point have had temporary guardianship of their grandchildren. Simpson had agreed to the arrangement until he was “able to resume his legal and physical custody . . . upon release from incarceration,” according to court papers filed last year.

The status of the guardianship case, which also involves financial issues, is now under wraps.

By sealing the case, Schulte said he did not mean to imply that there is any dispute over custody. The commissioner said public perception that the Browns and Simpson are working together in the best interest of the children is an accurate one.

“The parties right now are not really protecting much,” he said Friday.

The hearing was in response to a motion filed by attorneys for the Los Angeles Times asking the commissioner to reopen the case.

Attorney Karen N. Frederiksen, representing the newspaper, contended that the commissioner could take other steps to seal sensitive documents without closing the entire case and denying the public 1st Amendment rights of access to court documents and proceedings.

Frederiksen said she was sensitive to the privacy rights of the children, but that the case also involves important social issues, such as how allegations that Simpson physically abused his ex-wife may be handled in the guardianship proceedings.

She noted that guardianship proceedings in probate court generally are open to the public, and that the Simpson guardianship file had been open for more than a year without apparent harm to the children.

But Schulte, while acknowledging 1st Amendment concerns, said total closure would be the most effective way to protect the children, given the notoriety of Simpson’s criminal case. His order does not prevent the families or attorneys from discussing the guardianship.

Attorneys representing the children, the Browns and Simpson said they supported the court order closing the case. No family members were in court Friday.