Opinion ID: 779123
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Deportation Proceedings Have Traditionally Been Accessible to the Public

Text: 83 [B]ecause a `tradition of accessibility implies the favorable judgment of experience,' Globe Newspaper, 457 U.S. at 605, 102 S.Ct. 2613 (quoting Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia, 448 U.S. 555, 589, 100 S.Ct. 2814, 65 L.Ed.2d 973 (1980) (Brennan, J., concurring)), we ... consider... whether the place and process have historically been open to the press and general public. Press-Enter. II, 478 U.S. at 8, 106 S.Ct. 2735. 84 The parties first dispute whether this inquiry requires a significantly long showing that the proceedings at issue were historically open, such as a common law tradition. The government cites Richmond Newspapers for the proposition that the tradition of open hearings must have existed from the time when our organic laws were adopted, presumably at the adoption of the Bill of Rights. See Richmond Newspapers, 448 U.S. at 569, 100 S.Ct. 2814. 85 The Supreme Court effectively silenced this argument in Press-Enterprise II, where the Court relied on exclusively post-Bill of Rights history in determining that preliminary hearings in criminal cases were historically open. See Press-Enter. II, 478 U.S. at 10-12, 106 S.Ct. 2735. Courts of Appeals have similarly not required such a showing. See, e.g., United States v. Simone, 14 F.3d 833, 842 (3d Cir.1994) (finding First Amendment right of access despite no history of such); Cal-Almond, Inc., 960 F.2d 105, 109 (finding history of access to be determined by reviewing current state statutes); Applications of Nat'l Broadcasting Co., Inc. v. Presser, 828 F.2d 340, 344 (6th Cir.1987) (finding First Amendment right of access while reviewing history from 1924-1984). 86 Justice Brennan's formulation of the experience prong of the test in his Richmond Newspapers concurrence, adopted as the prevailing view of how to approach the issue, speaks on this point. See Press-Enter. II, 478 U.S. at 8, 106 S.Ct. 2735 (adopting Justice Brennan's formulation); Globe Newspaper, 457 U.S. at 605, 102 S.Ct. 2613 (same). Specifically, Justice Brennan opined: First, the case for a right of access has special force when drawn from an enduring and vital tradition of public entree to particular proceedings or information. Cf. In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 361-362, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970). Such a tradition commands respect in part because the Constitution carries the gloss of history. More importantly, a tradition of accessibility implies the favorable judgment of experience. Second, the value of access must be measured in specifics. Analysis is not advanced by rhetorical statements that all information bears upon public issues; what is crucial in individual cases is whether access to particular government process is important in terms of that very process. 87 Richmond Newspapers, 448 U.S. at 589, 100 S.Ct. 2814 (Brennan, J., concurring) (emphasis added). Therefore, although historical context is important, a brief historical tradition might be sufficient to establish a First Amendment right of access where the beneficial effects of access to that process are overwhelming and uncontradicted. See id. Accordingly, the Supreme Court has called both prongs of the test complimentary considerations. Press-Enter. II, 478 U.S. at 8, 106 S.Ct. 2735. This comports with the Court's view that the First Amendment concerns broad principles, Globe Newspaper, 457 U.S. at 604, 102 S.Ct. 2613, applicable to contexts not known to the Framers. See, e.g., Erznoznik v. Jacksonville, 422 U.S. 205, 95 S.Ct. 2268, 45 L.Ed.2d 125 (1975) (applying First Amendment protection to drive-in movie theaters). However, we are mindful that [a] historical tradition of at least some duration is obviously necessary,... [or] nothing would separate the judicial task of constitutional interpretation from the political task of enacting laws currently deemed essential. In re The Reporters Comm. for Freedom of the Press, 773 F.2d 1325, 1332 (D.C.Cir.1985) (Scalia, J.). 88 Nonetheless, deportation proceedings historically have been open. Although exceptions may have been allowed, the general policy has been one of openness. The first general immigration act was enacted in 1882. See Kleindienst, 408 U.S. at 761, 92 S.Ct. 2576. Repeatedly, Congress has enacted statutes closing exclusion hearings. See e.g., Treasury Department, Immigration Laws and Regulations 4 (Washington D.C., Government Printing Office 1893); Act of March 3, 1903 § 25 (Ch. 1012, 32 Stat. 1213) (requiring exclusion hearings to be held separate and apart from the public); 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act, 66 Stat. 163, Section 163 (same). None of these statutes, however, has ever required closure of deportation hearings. Since 1965, INS regulations have explicitly required deportation proceedings to be presumptively open. See 8 C.F.R. § 3.27. Since that time, Congress has revised the Immigration and Nationality Act at least 53 times without indicating that the INS had judged their intent incorrectly. See United States Dept. of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Immigration and Naturalization Legislation from the Statistical Yearbook, (last modified 05/28/2002) <http: //www.ins.usdoj. gov/graphics/aboutins/statistics/legishist/index. htm> ( Statistical Yearbook ). 89 The Government argues that the history of explicitly closing exclusion hearings, while not specifying that deportation hearings be closed, does not show that Congress intended deportation hearings to be open. Instead, the Government contends, this demonstrates that Congress took the INS's discretion away for exclusion hearings and specifically gave them discretion to open or close deportation hearings. We find the Government's reading unpersuasive. Having explicitly closed exclusion hearings, it would have been easy enough for Congress expressly to state that the Attorney General had such discretion with respect to deportation hearings. But it did not. The Immigration and Nationality Act is replete with examples where discretion is specifically delegated to the Attorney General. See, e.g., 8 U.S.C. § 1154(a)(1)(J) (2002) (The determination of what evidence is credible and the weight to be given that evidence shall be within the sole discretion of the Attorney General.); 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(9)(B)(v)(2002) (The Attorney General has sole discretion to waive clause (i)). To the extent that their actions were ambiguous, the Supreme Court has repeated the long standing principle of construing any lingering ambiguities in deportation statutes in favor of the alien. See INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421, 459, 107 S.Ct. 1207, 94 L.Ed.2d 434 (1987) (citing INS v. Errico, 385 U.S. 214, 225, 87 S.Ct. 473, 17 L.Ed.2d 318 (1966)); see also Costello v. INS, 376 U.S. 120, 128, 84 S.Ct. 580, 11 L.Ed.2d 559 (1964); Fong Haw Tan v. Phelan, 333 U.S. 6, 10, 68 S.Ct. 374, 92 L.Ed. 433 (1948). 90 Moreover, the history of immigration law informs Congress's legislation. Open hearings, apart from their value to the community, have long been considered to advance fairness to the parties. See generally Richmond Newspapers, 448 U.S. 555, 100 S.Ct. 2814, 65 L.Ed.2d 973. Additionally, Congress has long been aware that deportees are constitutionally guaranteed greater procedural rights than those excluded upon initial entry. See, e.g., Ex rel. Mezei, 345 U.S. at 212, 73 S.Ct. 625 (reviewing this history). Therefore, Congress likely legislated key differences between both procedures accordingly. 91 Next, relying on Capital Cities Media, Inc., the Government impermissibly expands the relevant inquiry by arguing that there was no common law right of access to administrative proceedings. First, this argument ignores the fact that the modern administrative state is an entity unknown to the Framers of the First Amendment. This argument also fails to recognize the evolving nature of our government. Administrative proceedings come in all shapes and sizes. To the extent that we look to similar proceedings, we should look to proceedings that are similar in form and substance. This was the approach taken by the Third Circuit in The First Amendment Coalition. In that case, when analyzing the history prong of the test, the Third Circuit compared an administrative disciplinary board's function to that of a grand jury because both could only recommend, not impose, punishment. See First Amendment Coalition, 784 F.2d at 473. 92 As stated earlier, to paraphrase the Supreme Court, deportation hearings walk, talk, and squawk very much like a judicial proceeding. Substantively, we look to other proceedings that have the same effect as deportation. Here, the only other federal court that can enter an order of removal is a United States District Court during sentencing in a criminal trial. See 8 U.S.C.A. § 1228(c) (2002). At common law, beginning with the Transportation Act of 1718, the English criminal courts could enter an order of transportation or banishment as a sentence in a criminal trial. See generally Javier Bleichmar, Deportation as Punishment: A Historical Analysis of the British Practice of Banishment and its Impact on Modern Constitutional Law, 14 Geo. Immigr. L.J. 115, 125 (1999) (citing A. Roger Ekrich, Bound for America: The Transportation of British Convicts to the Colonies 1718-1775 (1987)). As Richmond Newspapers discussed in great length, these types of criminal proceedings have historically been open. Richmond Newspapers, 448 U.S. at 564-74, 100 S.Ct. 2814. 93 It bears note that the history of administrative proceedings is briskly evolving to embrace open hearings. See 3 Kenneth Culp Davis, Administrative Law Treatise § 14:13, at 58-61 (2d ed. 1980) (The prevailing tendency [is] to open all hearings of a somewhat formal character, overriding interest in privacy and in confidentiality). Thus, the favorable judgment of experience counsels that openness better serves formal administrative hearings. See Richmond Newspapers, 448 U.S. at 589, 100 S.Ct. 2814; see also Fitzgerald v. Hampton, 467 F.2d 755, 766-67 (D.C.Cir.1972) (holding that closing civil servant's termination hearing violated due process). As the Supreme Court aptly recognized in 1938: 94 The vast expansion of this field of administrative regulation in response to the pressure of social needs is made possible under our system by adherence to the basic principles that the legislature shall appropriately determine the standards of administrative action and that in administrative proceedings of a quasi-judicial character the liberty and property of the citizen shall be protected by the rudimentary requirements of fair play. These demand a fair and open hearing, —essential alike to the legal validity of the administrative regulation and to the maintenance of public confidence in the value and soundness of this important governmental process. Such a hearing has been described as an inexorable safeguard. 95 Morgan v. United States, 304 U.S. 1, 14-15 (1938) (citations omitted) (emphasis added). 96 Finally, to refute the history of open hearings, the government points to a single passage in a study about deportation of non-citizens to Europe during the 1920s and a single Second Circuit case, for the proposition that deportation hearings took place in a variety of settings, including prisons, hospitals, and homes. See J. Clark, Deportation of Aliens from the United States to Europe 363 (1931); United States ex rel. Ciccerelli v. Curran, 12 F.2d 394, 396 (2d Cir.1926) (finding that deportation hearings may be held in prison). However, neither of these sources speak to the norm. Certainly, while these examples might have been exceptional cases, neither of these sources even hint that the public could not attend a hearing at a prison, hospital, or home. Certainly, one could imagine family and friends being present at some of these places. Finally, the study cited by the Government points out that members of Congress, like Plaintiff Conyers, sometimes attended, or sent representatives to, such hearings. See Clark, supra at 368. 14 97