In re Nat’l Prescription Opiate Litigation (Status Conference Closure)
The Reporters Committee at 27 media organizations filed a letter in the Northern District of Ohio concerning public access to a pre-trial conference scheduled for April 23 and future pre-trial conferences. The letter states that the news media coalition understands that the April 23 conference will be closed to the public and that other pre-trial conferences have been closed to the public. The letter highlights the important public interest in this litigation, argues that the First Amendment and common law presumptions of openness apply to civil pre-trial conferences, and requests that the April 23 pre-trial conference—and all future pre-trial conferences in this litigation—be held in open court.