North Dakota's Supreme Court says the names of jurors who convicted Moe Gibbs of murder should be made public, along with some information from questionnaires the jurors filled out before they were chosen to serve.

Southeast District Judge John Paulson sealed the information from public view after Gibbs was found guilty last November of murder in the September 2006 slaying of Mindy Morgenstern, 22, a Valley City State University student. Morgenstern was strangled and stabbed with two knives.

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered Paulson to disclose the jurors' names after notifying them he would do so. The justices also directed Paulson to justify any continued secrecy for the information in the juror surveys, in which jurors were asked to respond to 169 questions.

Paulson's statement that he had promised confidentiality to the 12 jurors who decided the case was not good enough, the justices said. Paulson also said he feared jurors could be harassed during Gibbs' trial in Bismarck.

"We conclude those reasons, by themselves, are insufficient to rebut the presumption of openness and to warrant a blanket closure in this case," said the Supreme Court's unanimous order, which was written by Justice Mary Muehlen Maring.

"A blanket promise of protection from public disclosure of information on jury questionnaires is not legally effectual where public access is mandated under the constitution," the order said.

Paulson's actions went against U.S. Supreme Court precedents and North Dakota state law and judicial rules, the order said.

Paulson did not respond Monday to telephone and e-mail requests for comment about the Supreme Court's decision. When the jury handed up its verdict Nov. 16, members who could be contacted declined comment to reporters as they left the Burleigh County courthouse.

Paulson presided at Gibbs' two murder trials. At his first, held last summer in Minot, jurors could not agree on a verdict. Gibbs was convicted at his second trial, held last fall in Bismarck, after jurors deliberated for 27 hours over five days.

Paulson sentenced Gibbs last December to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Gibbs has appealed his conviction to the North Dakota Supreme Court, which has yet to schedule oral arguments in the case.

The questionnaire asked prospective jurors about a broad range of issues. They were quizzed about their reading and television viewing habits, their knowledge of genetic evidence, and whether they had bumper stickers or personalized license plates on their vehicles.

The jurors were asked if they knew anyone who had been a victim of a violent crime, and whether they would have problems deciding a case involving a black defendant. Gibbs is black, and the jurors who decided his case were white.

The Supreme Court's ruling said the jurors' dates of birth should be blacked out from any public version of the jury questionnaires, along with their addresses and phone numbers if those are not publicly available.

Paulson also may consider blacking out jurors' answers to questions about any medications they were taking, whether they had been crime victims, and their opinions of racial and ethic groups, the court's decision said.

Forum Communications Co., a Fargo company that owns newspapers in Fargo, Dickinson, Jamestown and Grand Forks and television stations in Fargo and Grand Forks, sought the order after Paulson refused two separate requests to disclose the jurors' names.

"We conclude this is an appropriate case to exercise our original jurisdiction because this case involves issues of vital concern about the interrelationship of guidelines for public and media access to court records, for juror privacy, and for a criminal defendant's right to a fair trial, and because there is no adequate remedy by appeal to resolve those issues," the Supreme Court's order said.