Secret Courts

The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections’ protocol for executions violates the First Amendment-based right of public access to judicial proceedings, two local newspapers argued in a lawsuit filed against the agency earlier this week.

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.

A federal appellate court held last week that there is no First Amendment right for the media to access police and court documents filed in connection with search warrant proceedings.

A Kentucky judge earlier this week granted a local newspaper’s request to unseal records in a juvenile sexual abuse case that sparked widespread support for the victim after she publicly identified her alleged attackers.

Jefferson District Court Chief Judge Angela McCormick Bisig also ruled that all proceedings held in the case will be open to the public and allowed the news media to photograph in the courtroom.

A federal court dismissed nearly all of the claims in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the FBI spying on Muslim Americans, ruling that the government could invoke the “state secrets” privilege to avoid almost all litigation.

The judge presiding over the fatal Colorado movie theater shooting case granted the release of about three dozen relevant court documents on Monday, but kept many of the records under seal.