ProPublica v. Reynolds
Court: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
Date Filed: Jan. 24, 2025
Background: In 2022, the U.S. Government prosecuted Seaman Recruit Ryan Mays in connection with the fire on the USS Bonhomme Richard in 2020, one of the worst non-combat warship disasters in recent memory. A military judge ultimately found Mays not guilty, and there remain open questions about his case, including why Mays was court-martialed despite internal recommendations against it. In 2022, ProPublica sued the U.S. Navy over its refusal to disclose records from that court-martial, nearly all records from which continued to be withheld despite the use of the materials in open court and Mays’s acquittal.
During the litigation, the Navy eventually released some records, though many of them extensively redacted. The Navy has also continued to deny requests for access to court records and proceedings in several other cases, including three Marine Corps cases as well as sexual assault cases. The records requested by ProPublica included written court orders and documents discussed in open court that are not classified, sealed, or privileged, and proceedings for which there is an unconsented tradition of openness.
In 2024, ProPublica filed an amended complaint, alleging that certain Navy policies have unlawfully restricted the news outlet from reporting on the Navy’s court system. Among other things, the lawsuit asks the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California to order the Navy to provide notice of upcoming proceedings and greater public access to court records and proceedings.
ProPublica and the Navy have each filed motions for summary judgment in the district court.
Our Position: In a friend-of-the-court brief joined by 34 media organizations, including several military publications, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press urges the district court to safeguard the right of access by granting ProPublica’s motion for summary judgment and denying the Navy’s cross-motion for summary judgment.
- The right of access to military court proceedings and records permits public oversight and ensures government accountability.
- The public relies on and benefits from press coverage of the military, and the Navy’s fight for secrecy will stymie important news reporting.
From the Brief: “Without advance knowledge of military proceedings and without access to the accompanying records, members of the press, including but not limited to ProPublica, are unable to report on these important proceedings. Journalists may miss court martial hearings altogether, for example, and without access to the records used in the proceedings they do observe, they may be prevented from understanding what occurred and the basis for important decisions.”
Related: In September 2022, the Reporters Committee, joined by ProPublica and dozens of other news and media organizations, sent a letter to the U.S. Defense Department urging it to ensure the immediate public release of records related to Mays’s court-martial and to rectify the Navy’s erroneous legal guidance regarding access. The Reporters Committee also filed a friend-of-the-court brief at the outset of ProPublica’s lawsuit to make the records public, arguing that access to court-martial records benefits the public and the military justice system.