<blockquote>Across the U.S., thousands of similar law-enforcement requests for electronic monitoring are likewise locked away from public view, even after the investigations that spawned them have ended. In most cases, they stay sealed indefinitely—unlike nearly all other aspects of American judicial proceedings. Courts long have presumed that search warrants, for example, eventually should be made public.</blockquote>
via <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/sealed-court-files-obscure-rise-in-electronic-surveillance-1401761770-lMyQjAxMTA0MDAwMzEwNDMyWj">Sealed Court Files Obscure Rise in Electronic Surveillance - WSJ</a>.