Columbia, S.C. ? South Carolina is taking the lead in trying to put an end to confidential legal settlements in everything from product liability cases to child-molestation claims and medical malpractice suits.

Plaintiffs’ lawyers and others believe that making settlements public would allow quicker discovery of faulty products, such as the Firestone tires the government says contributed to 300 deaths in the late 1990s.

“When they have 100 tire-exploding cases, they can’t settle 90 of them and sort of swear they never happened,” said Gedney Howe, a Charleston trial lawyer.

Similarly, some people around the country have complained that sealed settlements between the Roman Catholic Church and victims of molesting priests kept the public in the dark about the problem.

The proposed ban would end secrecy in all future civil settlements approved by federal judges. There would be no exception for cases that revealed sensitive information, such as the name of an abuse victim or a person’s medical history. Settlements already sealed will remain confidential.

The ban could be adopted this fall after a public comment period ends Sept. 30.

Defense attorneys are fighting the change, saying it could lead more of their corporate clients to go to trial with cases that ordinarily would be settled, further clogging the courts.