Copley Press, Inc. v. Superior Court of San Diego County

The Copley Press, Inc. (Press) seeks access to sealed court records to learn the amount of a settlement reached between the insurer for Poway Unified School District (District) and a minor student who was sexually assaulted at school. The superior court denied Press’s motion to unseal the records, finding the student’s privacy rights outweigh the public’s right of access to court records and public school matters. Press petitions for a writ of mandate, contending the student has no privacy interest in the settlement amount and the public’s right of access is paramount. We decide as a matter of law no compelling reason exists to seal the record and grant the petition.

Factual and Procedural Background

Fifteen-year-old M.P.R. (the student) was sexually assaulted with a broomstick by three baseball teammates on the Rancho Bernardo High School campus in March 1997. Press published articles on the assailants’ wardship proceedings in which the juvenile court found the school had a “culture [of] raping-type activity . . . known of by the coaching staff and thought to be acceptable . . . conduct by student athletes because the coaching staff never challenged this conduct.”…