Application of the New York Times Company and Charlie Savage for Access to Certain Dockets, Orders, Legal Briefing, and Argument Transcripts Ancillary to January 6 Grand Jury Proceedings

Opinion

Case 1:22-mc-00100-BAH Document 14 *SEALED* Filed 02/23/23 Page 1 of 32

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

IN RE APPLICATION OF THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY AND CHARLIE Miscellaneous Action No. 22-100 (BAH) SAVAGE FOR ACCESS TO CERTAIN DOCKETS, ORDERS, LEGAL BRIEFING, (consolidated with AND ARGUMENT TRANSCRIPTS Miscellaneous Action No. 22-104) ANCILLARY TO JANUARY 6 GRAND JURY PROCEEDINGS Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell

REDACTED VERSION

MEMORANDUM OPINION

The sealing ofjudicial decisions and ancillary judicial records relied on to resolve matters

pending before the Court is anathema, "reflect[ing] the antipathy of a democratic country to the

notion of 'secret law,' inaccessible to those who are governed by that law." In re Leopold to

Unseal Certain Elec. Surveillance Applications & Orders ("Leopold"), 964 F.3d 1121, 1127

(D.C. Cir. 2020). Indeed, "the issuance of public opinions is core to the transparency of the

court's decisionmaking process," id. at 1128 (internal citation omitted), and, as such, is "a

fundamental norm of our judicial system: that judges' decisions and their rationales must be

available to the public," id. at 1130. Public access to judicial records is '"important to

maintaining the integrity and legitimacy of an independent Judicial Branch,'" id. at 1127

(quoting MetLife, Inc. v. Fin. Stability Oversight Council, 865 F.3d 661, 663 (D.C. Cir. 2017)),

and serves "to produce an informed and enlightened public opinion" as well as "to safeguard

against any attempt to employ our courts as instruments of persecution, to promote the search for

truth, and to assure confidence in judicial remedies," id. The courts have long recognized that

the press plays a critical role in facilitating public access and acknowledged that "[o]ne of the

demands of a democratic society is that the public should know what goes on in courts by being