The federal judge deciding whether depositions of the Columbine High School killers' parents should be destroyed said this week that he will read the lengthy documents before making a decision.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Babcock has previously said the documents, recorded during several hours of questioning in two civil cases, should either be destroyed or held under seal at the National Archives and Records Administration for 25 years.

At the end of 25 years, Babcock has indicated that the documents would be destroyed. An attorney representing the archives, however, has said the documents could be permanently preserved at the Denver Federal Records Center.

Parents of some of the students killed during the April 1999 shooting have argued the materials could shed light on the family lives of gunmen Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold and should be made public.