By Leandra Lederman (December 4, 2018, 6:57 PM EST) -- Transparency is a widely accepted judicial norm. It increases courts' accountability, and thereby increases the confidence and trust litigants and the general public have in courts' decision-making. Access to U.S. Tax Court documents has long differed from access to the documents of other courts.[1] The underlying cause is partly structural, in that the Tax Court isn't as neatly situated in the federal government's organizational chart as Article III courts, administrative agencies or even Article I courts such as the Court of Federal Claims. Accordingly, the Tax Court traditionally has created many of its own rules and procedures, such as ones governing access to its documents. This means that the issue is also partly cultural. As discussed below, access to Tax Court documents has increased over time as the court has evolved and further changes are in the works....