Topic
Court Access
Bryan Kohberger attends a hearing in Moscow, Idaho

Judge Tells Attorneys To Stop Being So Secretive in Bryan Kohberger’s Quadruple Murder Case

“This runs counter to the public’s First Amendment rights to know what is going on in its courts,” the judge wrote.

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The West Virginia State Capitol

Court Sides With West Virginia TV Station Over Records on Top Official’s Firing

Lawyers argued releasing the termination letter constituted an invasion of privacy and that it was protected from public disclosure under an exemption to open records law.

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The Iowa state capitol building is pictured in Des Moines

Iowa Agrees To Speed up Access to Civil Court Cases as Part of Lawsuit Settlement

The state of Iowa will provide “contemporaneous” access to newly filed civil court cases to settle a lawsuit that accused the state of delaying access to those filings.

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Motion hearing regarding access to transcript and interview jurors, in Atlanta

Lawyer Says He Released Videos in Georgia’s 2020 Election Interference Case

The videos were part of evidence, known as discovery, that had been provided to all of the defendants and their attorneys. But they were not publicly available.

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Courthouse News Sues Idaho Court, Pushes for Same-day Access to Court Documents

Courthouse News Service, a national news publication that reports on state and federal level legal proceedings, is suing an Idaho court administrator for refusing to provide reporters with same-day access to legal proceedings. 

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fourth circuit

Fourth Circuit Revives Court Access Lawsuit in Maryland

The Fourth Circuit just revived a lawsuit challenging a Maryland statute that prohibits individuals from broadcasting courtroom audio transcripts. Says "lawfully obtained recordings cannot constitutionally be punished ‘absent a need to further a state interest of the highest order.'"

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Zoom Hearing

Massachusetts High Court Confronts First and Sixth Amendment Concerns Regarding a Virtual Suppression Hearing

On May 5th, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court — the highest court in Massachusetts — ruled that a virtual suppression hearing conducted via Zoom violated neither the defendant’s Sixth Amendment rights nor the public’s First Amendment right to access court proceedings. Nevertheless, the court reversed the trial judge’s ruling that had rejected the defendant’s motion for a continuance.

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Edward Snowden

Civil Liberties Groups Petition Supreme Court to Unseal “Secret” Surveillance Court Rulings

Most court opinions are made publicly available under the First Amendment so that people can understand what the law is and have trust in the judicial process. That is not the case for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) which decides when government agencies can spy on suspected foreign agents, and can sometimes target American citizens as well.

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