No Sealing of Letters of Support in Sentencing for Police Brutality
From U.S. v. George, decided Tuesday by Judge Kenneth Bell (W.D.N.C.); for more on the underlying case, see this Fourth Circuit decision:
Whether arising under the First Amendment or the common law, the public’s right to access judicial proceedings “may be abrogated only in unusual circumstances.” Under the First Amendment standard, a “denial of access” to publicly filed documents “must be necessitated by a compelling … interest and narrowly tailored to serve that interest.” This high standard is required because public access “serves to promote trustworthiness of the judicial process, to curb judicial abuses, and to provide the public with a more complete understanding of the judicial system, including a better perception of fairness.” Judges are not accountable to the public like elected officials, thus “[a]ny step that withdraws an element of the judicial process from public vie
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