Court Says Bristol and Levi Custody Rex Public--Tabloids Exhale

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Alaska Superior Court Judge Kari Kristiansen has denied Bristol Palin's request for a gag order to block public access to the records in her ongoing custody battle with Levi Johnston over their one-year-old son Tripp.

The Anchorage Daily News further reports that Judge Sharon Gleason, the judicial district's presiding judge, rejected Palin's request to use the pseudonyms John Doe and Jane Doe for all filings with the Court. Palin, 19, petitioned the court Nov. 4 for sole physical and legal custody of Tripp and sought child support from the 19-year-old Johnston. Johnston is seeking shared legal and physical custody of his son.

Palin asked for a gag order as being in her child's best interests, but Johnston wants the custody proceedings open to the press as a check against former Gov. Sarah Palin's "instinct to attack," according to an affidavit filed by his counsel.

Bristol Palin's pregnancy announcement coincided with her mother's selection by Sen. John McCain as the vice-presidential candidate on the GOP ticket in the 2008 presidential election. The young parents split up shortly after Tripp's birth.