Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_06-cv-00219/USCOURTS-cand-3_06-cv-00219-11/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 535
Nature of Suit: Habeas Corpus - Death Penalty
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Prisoner Civil Rights

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Case Nos. C 06 219 JF RS & C 06 926 JF RS

ORDER REGARDING MEDIA ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS AND PROCEEDINGS

(DPSAGOK)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

SAN JOSE DIVISION

Michael Angelo MORALES,

 Plaintiff,

 v.

Jeanne S. WOODFORD, Acting Secretary of the

California Department of Corrections and

Rehabilitation; Eddie S. Ylst, Acting Warden of

San Quentin State Prison; and Does 1-50,

 Defendants.

Case Number C 06 219 JF RS

Case Number C 06 926 JF RS

DEATH-PENALTY CASE

ORDER REGARDING MEDIA

ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS AND

PROCEEDINGS

[Docket Nos. 98 & 106]

I

The present action involves a challenge to California’s lethal-injection protocol, which

Defendants revised on March 6, 2006. Defendants have filed a public, redacted version of the

revised protocol; they also have submitted the unredacted revised protocol to the Court under

seal. Counsel for the Sacramento Bee, a daily newspaper, has requested by letter that the Court

either release the unredacted protocol or state formally its reasons for not doing so. 

The Court has reviewed the unredacted protocol in camera and has compared it to the

redacted version. The Court is satisfied that all of the redactions relate to prison security, as they

involve matters such as key codes and the locations of prison guards prior to and during

executions. The Court finds and concludes that the redactions are minimal in scope, are

**E-FIled 3/29/06**

Case 3:06-cv-00219-RS Document 118 Filed 03/29/06 Page 1 of 3
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Case Nos. C 06 219 JF RS & C 06 926 JF RS

ORDER REGARDING MEDIA ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS AND PROCEEDINGS

(DPSAGOK)

immaterial to the legal and factual issues before the Court, and are necessary to ensure the

security of San Quentin State Prison and its personnel. Accordingly, the unredacted protocol

shall remain under seal.

II

In connection with the instant litigation, the Court will visit San Quentin State Prison on

March 30, 2006. The Court will examine the facilities and equipment used during executions

and hear testimony on the record from a person who has participated in executions. The Court

has received several requests from news organizations to observe these proceedings, including a

formal motion filed by Los Angeles Times Communications LLC; McClatchy Newspapers, Inc.;

and San Jose Mercury News, Inc. The Court held a hearing on the motion on March 29, 2006; at

the hearing, counsel appeared on behalf of Plaintiff, Defendants, and the moving press

organizations, as well as the Pacific News Service, which is the plaintiff in a related action,

Pacific News Service v. Woodford, No. C 06 1793 JF RS.

The Court has considered the legal standards set forth in Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior

Court, 464 U.S. 501 (1984), and California First Amendment Coalition v. Woodford, 299 F.3d

868 (9th Cir. 2002). As it observed at the hearing, the Court views the March 30 proceeding as

something of a hybrid, incorporating elements of both a typical judicial proceeding and, in the

sense that it involves first-hand observation of prison procedures, an execution. While it agrees

with the moving and requesting organizations that there is a strong public interest in full access

to all proceedings in the present matter, the Court concludes that unrestricted participation by the

moving and requesting organizations in the March 30 proceeding is impracticable, for at least

three reasons. First, by custom and practice and pursuant to the execution protocol itself, the

identity of persons who actually participate in executions is never a matter of public record; by

obtaining the testimony of the person in question within the walls of the prison, the Court may

conduct relevant observations and ask appropriate questions while at the same time protecting

the person’s identity. Second, the execution chamber is extremely small, and the presence of

more people than absolutely necessary is likely to impair the Court’s ability to conduct a full

examination of the chamber. Third, the presence of numerous media representatives will place

Case 3:06-cv-00219-RS Document 118 Filed 03/29/06 Page 2 of 3
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Case Nos. C 06 219 JF RS & C 06 926 JF RS

ORDER REGARDING MEDIA ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS AND PROCEEDINGS

(DPSAGOK)

an undue burden on prison security generally.

In light of these concerns, and balancing the First Amendment rights of the media and the

public against Defendants’ compelling interests in prison security and the Court’s ability to

perform its judicial function efficiently, the Court will grant the motion in part and otherwise

deny the motion and related requests. The moving organizations may designate two press

representatives to attend the proceeding at San Quentin, who shall function as a press pool. The

press representatives shall agree in writing not to reveal or memorialize in any manner, including

but not limited to written notes, any information that identifies the person examined.

In addition to the two press representatives, the following individuals may attend the

proceeding at San Quentin: three attorneys and one expert on behalf of Plaintiff; two attorneys on

behalf of Defendants; along with the Court, two judicial staff attorneys, and one court reporter. 

Counsel for Pacific News Service shall not attend this proceeding; however, this determination is

without prejudice to the right of PNS to request the opportunity to participate in a similar

proceeding in the course of the related litigation.

Finally, the Court will order that a full transcript of the hearing, unredacted except for

information that tends to reveal the identity of the person examined or to compromise prison

security, and expressly including a verbatim record of the person’s testimony and the Court’s

observations with respect to the execution facilities and equipment, be released to the media and

the public immediately following the conclusion of the hearing. 

Accordingly, and good cause therefor appearing, the Motion of Nonparty Press

Organizations Los Angeles Times Communications LLC; McClatchy Newspapers, Inc.; and San

Jose Mercury News, Inc., to Intervene and for Access to Judicial Proceedings is granted in part as

indicated herein and otherwise is denied. A full transcript of the proceedings at San Quentin

State Prison on March 30, 2006, redacted only to the extent described herein, shall be released to

the moving organizations and the public not later than the close of business on March 31, 2006.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

 DATED: March 29, 2006 __________________________________

JEREMY FOGEL

United States District Judge

Case 3:06-cv-00219-RS Document 118 Filed 03/29/06 Page 3 of 3