Secret Courts

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.

A federal appeals court Friday denied a journalist access to reports on American International Group (AIG) prepared by an independent consultant under an agreement with federal regulators for alleged securities law violations.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., unanimously reversed an earlier opinion granting journalist Sue Reisinger access to the documents.

Government investigators in the WikiLeaks probe can access Twitter users’ account information, a federal appeals court ruled earlier this week. Court records explaining why the accounts were subpoenaed will also remain sealed, according to the ruling.

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.

Supporting documents can remain hidden when filed in a court case that settles before a decision is reached, according to a ruling last week by the Washington state Supreme Court.

According to the state constitution, “justice in all cases shall be administered openly,” creating a presumption of public access to court documents in most cases. The state’s courts had previously interpreted that part of the constitution to apply only to documents that were “part of the administration of justice.”

The military commission at Guantanamo Bay today denied defense requests for television coverage of the upcoming 9/11-related trials, further hampering the media's efforts to cover the high-profile court proceedings.

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.

The Utah Supreme Court on Monday approved a rule that will allow journalists to tweet, live stream and blog from the courtroom for the first time in the state's history.

The rule, which goes into effect April 1, permits the media to use laptops, cell phones and cameras in court and makes Utah’s notoriously restrictive courtrooms some of the most accessible.