Sealed cases

The Miami Herald has asked a New York federal judge to unseal the docket in a complex criminal case that involves possible contempt charges against a lawyer, a Russian enterprise that preyed on land investors in Florida and Texas, and a businessman turned government cooperator.

A federal trial court in California granted a newspaper's request for documents in a civil lawsuit involving a 2007 forest fire that burned down tens of thousands of acres northeast of Sacramento, ruling that the writings became public records once they were filed with the court.

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to adopt a procedural rule proposed by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press intended to limit the number of civil cases it puts under seal, citing a recently adopted Judicial Conference policy that encourages federal judges to limit the number of cases they seal from public view.

An unnamed manufacturer challenging an online database of safety complaints has asked the court to allow it to proceed anonymously, arguing that the public filing of legal documents implicates the very interests the company seeks to protect by bringing the litigation.

A federal appellate court in New York has rebuffed the efforts of a journalist to unseal a transcript of unspecified, closed court proceedings in a high-profile criminal trial.

A state trial court judge in Alabama has sealed court records in the high-profile capital murder case of Amy Bishop, a former University of Alabama in Huntsville biology professor charged with killing three university colleagues.

Federal judges who decide whether or not to seal a court case can turn to a Federal Judicial Center pocket guide, which includes a brief history of case law on secret courts and a checklist of First and Sixth Amendment considerations.

Several Pennsylvania newspapers filed a petition last Thursday seeking to open a sealed state Supreme Court abortion case, although they are not seeking the identity of the teenager involved.