United States v. Index Newspapers LLC

This case requires us to decide the extent to which the public’s qualified right of access to court proceedings must give way to the need for secrecy when a grand jury witness is held in civil contempt and confined. We consider the district court’s order granting in part and denying in part a newspaper’s motion to unseal transcripts and filings related to a grand jury witness’s contempt and continued confinement proceedings.

All of the parties agree that there is no public right of access to grand jury transcripts, but Index Newspapers, LLC, dba The Stranger, asserts that once a grand jury witness is subject to ancillary contempt proceedings, any part of the contempt hearing transcript and related filings not covered by Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e) must be open to the public. After full consideration of the issues raised by this case, we conclude there is a First Amendment right of access to some of the transcripts and filings related to Matthew Duran’s contempt proceeding. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm the district court’s ruling in part, reverse in part, and remand.

BACKGROUND

On May 1, 2012, violence broke out on the streets…