Right of Access
No Sealing in Multi-Billionaire Leon Black's Attempt to Enforce Arbitration Subpoena
"Federal judges and their court staff are not legal pawns to be deployed in secret by wealthy disputants trying to get private answers to their problems."
"The Court Denies the Government's Attempt to Muzzle the Court"
"Unsealing the May 6 Order is essential for the public to see the government's overreach in searching cellphones without probable cause and [is essential for] publishing precedent as courts unpack future such requests."
Interesting Unsealing Decision in the Abrego Garcia Deportation Challenge
I haven't been closely following the many filings in the case, but I'm very glad the court is enforcing a fairly broad right of public access here.
Federal Court in New York Might Be the Hardest Court to Get Pseudonymity as a Sexual Assault Plaintiff,
which is to say the court that is the most in favor of public access to court records in such cases.
Arkansas S. Ct. Vacates Gag Order on Man Accused of Murdering His Teenage Daughter's Alleged Sex Abuser
The order also covered the man's family and public officials, as well as the lawyers in the case.
Iowa S. Ct. Adopts Federal Courts' Presumption Against Pseudonymity
Specifically, the court holds that parents can't sue under a pseudonym together with their minor child, even though state rules provides that minors' names are pseudonymized.
Reasonable to Deny Pseudonymity to Plaintiff Who Seeks to Conceal That She Has Epilepsy
So holds the Eleventh Circuit.
Pseudonymity Allowed (for Now) in Lawsuit Against Palestinian Student Groups
But one of the pro-pseudonymity decisions on which the court relies (which also involved a lawsuit alleging anti-Semitic behavior) was actually reversed two weeks ago.
No Closed Trial, Pseudonymity at Trial, or Audio-Only Testimony for Billion-Dollar Maine Lottery Winner
"However legitimate [plaintiff's] concerns, a party's wealth alone is not a legitimate reason to restrict the right of public access."
Black Student Expelled for Sexual Assault of White Classmate Seeks Pseudonymity Partly Because "Interracial Sexual Relationships …
between White women and Black men are the subject of heightened prejudice and violent responses that create a tangible risk of retaliation and animus against him."
Woman Compensated for Vaccine Injury Seeks to Have Name Redacted Because She Works in Vaccine-Related Public Relations
"She 'does not want her experience with [a] poorly administered vaccine to become a story in itself that would interfere with her ability to advocate for vaccinations at large.'"
"Bloggers, Xers, Facebookers, YouTubers, Instagrammers, and Others" Have Right of Access to Court Proceedings,
including the right to videorecord, given that state law (unlike federal law) provides for such videorecording for the mainstream media; so holds the Ohio Chief Justice.
No One-Sided Pseudonymity in Case Against Political Candidate Alleging Revenge Porn
“Plaintiff has not conducted this litigation as though it involves matters of a highly sensitive and personal nature—instead, she would cloak herself in pseudonymity, and the protections it affords, while publicly lobbing allegations at Defendant by name.”
No Pseudonymity and Sealing in Wrongful Death Lawsuit Over Man's Apparent Suicide, Despite …
wife's concern "about public embarrassment and potential harm to Decedent's surviving children."
No Sealing of Transgender Prisoner's Case
The prisoner had argued that other inmates were accessing the case documents, and as a result were urging other inmates to beat, rape, and kill the prisoner, apparently because of information in the court file related to the crime of which the prisoner had been convicted.
Plaintiff Suing Sean Combs / P. Diddy and Shawn Carter / Jay-Z Can Proceed Pseudonymously
This further adds to the split among Manhattan federal judges as to pseudonymity in the various Doe v. Combs cases.
Court Orders Unsealing of Part of Declaration by Giuliani's Ex-Lawyers in Georgia Election Workers' Defamation Case
"To permit Defendant to claim that he had instructed his lawyers to comply with all court orders including those requiring electronic production and that it was Prior Counsel who were responsible for the misdeeds that have plagued this case, while sitting on declarations in the court file that belie those claims, would permit him to make a 'mockery' of the court and its proceedings. "
Judge Rejects Meta's Attempt to Seal Various Information About Moderating Practices
"The manner in which Meta moderates content from an adult platform competing with OnlyFans versus content that originates from OnlyFans is directly at issue. Therefore, Meta's general policies which articulate the extent to which sexual content is permitted on any of Meta's social media platforms are also relevant."
Pro-Israel Jewish Students Suing Haverford College for Hostile Environment Harassment Can Proceed Pseudonymously
"[T]he presence of masked protesters in the room, who defied the authority of Haverford administrators and had to be removed by campus security, with a chanting group of protestors outside, would reasonably be viewed as a form of intimidation going far beyond the 'normal' chaos of a confrontational campus protest."
No Pseudonymity for Plaintiffs Challenging Employer's COVID-19 Protocols
"[C]ourts should not permit parties to proceed pseudonymously just to protect the parties' professional or economic life."
No Pseudonymity for Israeli Suing Intel Over Layoff Allegedly Prompted by Complaints Over Boss's Allegedly Pro-Hamas Statements
"Plaintiff's allegations are emotionally and politically charged, and ... Plaintiff is a member of certain groups subject to discrimination. That, however, is true of a plethora of cases in the federal courts and has generally not been understood to authorize anonymous pleading."
Court Allows Plaintiff to Proceed Pseudonymously, Without Disclosing Name to Defendant
The court stresses, though, that "The complaint includes no claims brought solely on behalf of Plaintiff Doe," and "Based on the description of the claims, including when and where the alleged vandalism took place and photographs of the vandalism, it appears defendants could adequately defend themselves against the claims without knowing Plaintiff Doe's identity."
No Pseudonymity for Plaintiff Challenging Suspension Under Title IX
So holds the Eleventh Circuit, upholding the district court's decision—but the court's standard of review suggests that the exact oppose district court decision might have been upheld, too.
Court Lets Plaintiff Suing Over "Pro-Hamas Demonstrations at Northwestern" Proceed Pseudonymously
Plaintiff had alleged that being publicly identified would put him at risk of physical harm.
