of particular significance was the evolution of the common-law right "to access court records to inspect and to copy". the expectation inherent in the common law right to access court records is that any person may come to the office of the clerk of the court during business hours and request to inspect court records, with almost instantaneous access. such right is a central safeguard of the integrity of the courts. any decision to conceal court records requires a sealing order. the right to access court records is also central to liberty: there is no conceivable way to exercise the habeas corpus right, deemed by the late justice brennan as "the cornerstone" of the united states constitution, absent access to court records as public records.