Government Records

Public’s Right of Access to Juror Information Loses More Ground … and What We Can Do About It

A recent spate of high-profile cases, across the country, demonstrate that many judges, in both state and federal courts, are of the view that there is no presumption of public access to the names of seated jurors, not only at the outset of a trial, but even post-verdict.

National Nonprofit’s Emails Filed Under Seal Are ‘Plainly Judicial Records’ and Must Be Unsealed

Affirming its well-established precedent on access to judicial records, the Eleventh Circuit recently upheld a district court’s order unsealing internal communications obtained during discovery and filed in connection with a motion for a preliminary injunction.

D.C. Circuit Orders Release of Additional Mueller Report Information

At issue in the appeal were the names, investigated facts, and explanation of Mueller’s declination decisions for two groups of people: those investigated for campaign finance and computer intrusion offenses, and those investigated for making false statements to the government in the course of the investigation.

Year of Secret Litigation Ends with Complete Media Victory in South Dakota

The high court held that a state statute prohibiting the sealing of certain warrant information meant what it said, finding that the question “is not a close one.” But the path to the ruling was far from typical.

Case Closed: Alabama Supreme Court Guts Open Records Law

With this ruling, it appears that the media will only be able to access law enforcement records if law enforcement makes a voluntary disclosure, the records are introduced as exhibits at trial, or, possibly, if the case is already closed. The sweeping ruling stands as a high-water mark for government secrecy of law enforcement records…

Utah Court Rules Journalist Entitled to Names of Lobbyists Hired to Delist Gray Wolf

The court held that the names of the subcontractors being paid with state funds to lobby for wolf-delisting were not properly classified as protected “trade secrets” or “commercial information,” under Utah’s open records statute, and that in any event the names must be released because the public interest in access outweighs any interests in restriction…

Pushing Back Against NYPD for Violations of Journalists’ Constitutional Rights

In a recently filed suit, five visual journalists are suing the NYPD for civil rights violations after each journalist was targeted, beaten, or arrested by NYPD officers while attempting to cover the 2020 George Floyd protests in New York City.

Sacramento Bee Scores Win Against Police Secrecy

Obfuscating Mercy: How The California Supreme Court Finally Addressed Secretive Pardons

The new rule rejects the governor’s decades-old practice of automatically sealing clemency files, but places the onus on the public to move for unsealing.

The Pentagon Papers 50 Years Later

Fifty years has not definitively resolved the impact and import of the Pentagon Papers case. Was it a monumental victory for the press? Was it a loss, since for the first time the courts imposed a prior restraint on a newspaper? Or was it an inconsequential one-off, since it hasn’t been a precedent for many…