Judges Grant 90% of Sealing Motions in 2 Million Federal Civil Cases, Scholars Find
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 27
Judges Grant 90% of Sealing Motions in 2 Million Federal Civil Cases, Scholars Find
2 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 27
Summary
Around 90% of motions to seal documents in federal civil cases were granted, according to a new study of more than 2 million cases by Stanford and Berkeley scholars.
Dozens of experienced federal judges approved every sealing request they faced, the researchers said, calling the pattern a “sealing system run amok.”
That finding clashes with repeated federal appeals court rulings that judicial records are presumptively public and that sealing should be rare, closely reviewed and specifically justified.
The studies sharpen concerns that trial-court practice is diverging from open-court principles, leaving legal arguments and supporting documents routinely hidden from public view.