In Re Special Grand Jury (For Anchorage, Alaska)

The appellants are the subjects of an investigation by a Special Grand Jury which has been sitting in the District of Alaska for approximately two years. ' They moved in the United States District Court for the District of Alaska for access to certain ministerial records in the regularly maintained court files for that Special Grand Jury. The district judge denied the motion on the theory that the movants, because they had not been indicted, lacked standing to raise issues concerning alleged irregularity of the grand jury. From that denial, the mov- ants appeal to this court or, in the alternative, petition this court for a writ of mandate.

Four questions of first impression are presented for determination:

We decide, for the reasons explained below, that there is a limited right of access to grand jury records which interested members of the public have standing to assert. We also decide that the procedural device employed in the district court by the appellants was appropriate for the exercise of the access right, and that the order denying access was an appealable order. However, rather than attempting to specify the exact contours of the access right and to apply them to the…