Motion to intervene

A military appeals court denied a group of journalists’ attempt to access court filings and decisions in the court-martial of Army Pfc. Bradley Manning.

In a 3-2 split, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces decided Wednesday it did not have jurisdiction to address the journalists’ arguments, dealing a major setback to the public’s ability to secure its rights of access to military court proceedings.

In the first decision ever in Virginia to address the issue of moot arguments, the state Supreme Court decided Thursday that a judge incorrectly denied a local newspaper access to trial exhibits in a 2011 child murder case.

The justices also ruled that the case was not moot despite the fact that the contested documents sought by the Newport News Daily Press were released to the public two years ago.

A Washington, D.C. trial judge declined to explain in a hearing Wednesday why he will continue to keep under seal courtroom transcripts and records regarding an investigation into the 2010 trial of the man found guilty of murdering Chandra Levy.

Maine’s highest court reversed a trial judge's decision and ordered jury selection to be public in a notable prostitution prosecution.

“A generalized concern that juror candor might be reduced if [jury selection] is conducted in public is insufficient . . . to bar the public or media from the entirety of the process,” according to the majority opinion, written by Chief Justice Leigh I. Saufley.

The trial court did not consider other less restrictive alternatives to closure that would still preserve the defendant’s rights, the opinion stated.

Two newspapers can now argue for the unsealing of settlement documents in a secretive fracking lawsuit, a Pennsylvania appeals court ruled Friday.

A Kentucky federal judge recently allowed media contact with jurors in a hate crime case, but denied the newspaper's attempt to strike down a local rule that normally prevents interaction with jurors in a federal trial.

A Florida judge on Monday denied a proposed gag order that would muzzle all attorneys and law enforcement officers involved in the prosecution of George Zimmerman.

More than a dozen news media organizations are opposing a proposed gag order in the George Zimmerman prosecution that would silence all attorneys involved.

A Florida judge denied prosecutors’ attempts to seal court records and close future hearings in the prosecution of George Zimmerman, ruling in a hearing today that “this is an open court, this is a public case.”

A federal appeals court earlier this week temporarily resealed exhibits and evidence in a legal battle over smart phones and tablets, staying a trial judge’s order that certain records be released to the public. The court also denied an advocacy group’s attempt to intervene and keep the records open on appeal.

In the highly publicized patent litigation between Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., news organization Reuters America LLC had filed a motion asking the trial court to unseal certain evidence and trial exhibits.