Opinion ID: 200358
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: First Amendment Right of Access

Text: 27 The Supreme Court recognized a qualified First Amendment right of access to certain judicial proceedings and documents in Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia, 448 U.S. 555, 100 S.Ct. 2814, 65 L.Ed.2d 973 (1980). We examine two complementary considerations to determine if a constitutional right of access applies to particular documents such as Connolly's CJA forms and the summary statement of the legal fees he owed for prior representation. Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court ( Press-Enterprise II ), 478 U.S. 1, 8, 106 S.Ct. 2735, 92 L.Ed.2d 1 (1986); see Richmond Newspapers, 448 U.S. at 589, 100 S.Ct. 2814 (Brennan, J., concurring) (applying similar standards in earlier case); Pokaski, 868 F.2d at 502-04 (applying Press-Enterprise II test to documents). First, we look at whether materials like these three documents have been open to the public in the past, because a tradition of accessibility implies the favorable judgment of experience. Press-Enterprise II, 478 U.S. at 8, 106 S.Ct. 2735 (internal quotations omitted). Second, we ask whether public access plays a significant positive role in the functioning of the particular process in question. Id. If our inquiry into these considerations were to yield affirmative answers, the right could be overcome only by an overriding interest. Id. (quoting Press-Enterprise I, 464 U.S. at 510, 104 S.Ct. 819). We review constitutional access claims de novo. Providence Journal, 293 F.3d at 10. 28 Some courts have treated these considerations as a two-prong test, with a pair of elements that must both be satisfied. See, e.g., United States v. El-Sayegh, 131 F.3d 158, 160-61 (D.C. Cir.1997); Baltimore Sun Co. v. Goetz, 886 F.2d 60, 64 (4th Cir.1989). Connolly, not surprisingly, urges us to adopt this approach as well. We are unpersuaded that this is the correct reading of the complementary considerations of Press-Enterprise II. Because we find that neither of the standards is met here, however, we need not decide the question today. 29
30 The full scope of the constitutional right of access is not settled in the law. Courts have evaluated individual cases when they arose and have determined whether each fell within the category of judicial activities to which the right applies. See generally D. Paul & R.J. Ovelmen, Access, in 2 Communications Law 7 (Practicing Law Institute 1999) (classifying case law according to type of proceeding or document at issue). This process of case-by-case classification, based on the limited Supreme Court precedents, has produced a list of proceedings and records that are covered by a First Amendment right of access and a list of those where no such right attaches. 31 Supreme Court precedent clearly extends the First Amendment right to cover access to criminal trials, Richmond Newspapers, 448 U.S. at 580, 100 S.Ct. 2814, including the voir dire of potential jurors, Press-Enterprise I, 464 U.S. at 509-10, 104 S.Ct. 819, and trial-like preliminary hearings in criminal cases, El Vocero v. Puerto Rico, 508 U.S. 147, 149-50, 113 S.Ct. 2004, 124 L.Ed.2d 60 (1993) (per curiam); Press-Enterprise II, 478 U.S. at 10, 106 S.Ct. 2735. See also Globe Newspaper, 457 U.S. at 610-11, 102 S.Ct. 2613 (overturning law requiring mandatory closing of criminal trials during testimony of minors who were victims of sexual abuse). 32 Beyond these few Supreme Court cases, lower courts have extended the right to various types of documents. This court has found the right applicable to legal memoranda filed with the court by parties in criminal cases, see Providence Journal, 293 F.3d at 11, and to records of completed criminal cases that ended without conviction, see Pokaski, 868 F.2d at 505. See also Hurley, 920 F.2d at 97 (construing rules to require presumptive access to lists of jurors). 33 Courts have also held that no right of access applies to some other types of proceedings and documents. The paradigmatic example is the grand jury, whose proceedings are conducted in secret. See Press-Enterprise II, 478 U.S. at 9, 106 S.Ct. 2735 (citing Douglas Oil Co. v. Petrol Stops N.W., 441 U.S. 211, 218, 99 S.Ct. 1667, 60 L.Ed.2d 156 (1979)) (grand jury is classic example of properly closed proceeding); Fed.R.Crim.P. 6(e) (establishing general rule of grand jury secrecy with enumerated narrow exceptions); cf. Hurley, 920 F.2d at 94 (noting lack of public access to deliberations of petit jurors). The secrecy of the grand jury is so important that this court and others have found no right of access attaches to distinct hearings and documents because they could reveal secret grand jury information. E.g., Pokaski, 868 F.2d at 509; In re Motions of Dow Jones & Co., 142 F.3d 496, 500-03 (D.C.Cir.1998); United States v. Smith, 123 F.3d 140, 143 (3d Cir.1997). Courts have also rejected claims based on First Amendment rights of access to other types of documents, at least in certain circumstances. These have included discovery materials, Seattle Times Co. v. Rhinehart, 467 U.S. 20, 37, 104 S.Ct. 2199, 81 L.Ed.2d 17 (1984); Anderson v. Cryovac, Inc., 805 F.2d 1, 13 (1st Cir.1986), withdrawn plea agreements, El-Sayegh, 131 F.3d at 161, affidavits supporting search warrants, Baltimore Sun, 886 F.2d at 64-65, and presentence reports, United States v. Corbitt, 879 F.2d 224, 228 (7th Cir.1989). 34 Two courts of appeals have considered the First Amendment right of access to documents concerning the CJA. In both cases, however, the documents at issue related to CJA payments to attorneys, which raise few privacy issues, rather than to the CJA eligibility documents filed by defendants. The results these courts reached were not entirely consistent. The Tenth Circuit found no First Amendment right of access to the vouchers or backup materials that attorneys submit to receive payment under the CJA. Gonzales, 150 F.3d at 1250. In a case concerned with access to the barebones data found in attorneys' CJA vouchers 4 but not the more detailed backup materials, the Second Circuit found a constitutional right of access. United States v. Suarez, 880 F.2d 626, 630-31 (2d Cir.1989); cf. United States v. Ellis, 90 F.3d 447, 450-51 (11th Cir.1996) (avoiding deciding First Amendment issue in CJA case by resting decision on textual interpretation of regulations). 35 As these cases demonstrate, the First Amendment does not grant the press or the public an automatic constitutional right of access to every document connected to judicial activity. Rather, courts must apply the Press-Enterprise II standards to a particular class of documents or proceedings and determine whether the right attaches to that class.
36 One response to the tradition inquiry would point to the relatively recent vintage of the CJA, first enacted in 1964, and conclude that there has not been enough time for a longstanding practice of across-the-board disclosure to develop under the statute. Tradition is not meant, we think, to be construed so narrowly; we look also to analogous proceedings and documents of the same type or kind. Rivera-Puig v. Garcia-Rosario, 983 F.2d 311, 323 (1st Cir.1992); see El Vocero, 508 U.S. at 150-51, 113 S.Ct. 2004 (finding pretrial criminal hearings in Puerto Rico analogous to other pretrial hearings to which First Amendment right applies, despite distinctions noted by Puerto Rico Supreme Court); Press-Enterprise II, 478 U.S. at 10-11, 106 S.Ct. 2735 (evaluating California pre-trial hearings by looking to practices of other states and to other types of hearings, including probable cause hearing in Aaron Burr's 1807 trial for treason). 37 The analogies must be solid ones, however, which serve as reasonable proxies for the favorable judgment of experience concerning access to the actual documents in question. Id. at 8, 106 S.Ct. 2735. 5 The Herald strays too far from the particular nature of the CJA eligibility documents when it proposes two supposedly analogous traditions of openness, namely access to criminal trials and access to information about the expenditure of public funds. 38 The asserted criminal trial tradition is too broad an analogy. As seen from examples such as grand jury materials and presentence reports, the mere connection of a document with a criminal case does not itself link the document to a tradition of public access. The Herald also argues that CJA eligibility determinations potentially implicate the defendant's constitutional rights, and that an erroneous denial of eligibility could be grounds for reversal of a conviction, so that these decisions are fundamentally tied to the trial itself. 6 The same could be said of other significant proceedings, including the grand jury, which remain closed. Documents submitted in conjunction with discovery proceedings, for example, do not thereby become part of the trial to which the tradition of access applies. See Anderson, 805 F.2d at 12; see also State ex rel. WHIO-TV-7 v. Lowe, 77 Ohio St.3d 350, 673 N.E.2d 1360, 1364 (1997) (applying rule on discovery to criminal proceeding). 39 Indeed, the breadth of the Herald's attack would go to any document in a criminal case ordered sealed by a court. The CJA eligibility documents are peripheral to Connolly's trial when compared to those processes where a tradition of access has triggered the First Amendment right, such as the selection of a jury, Press-Enterprise I, 464 U.S. at 505, 104 S.Ct. 819, or the legal memoranda submitted about the merits of the case, Providence Journal, 293 F.3d at 11. To conclude otherwise would create a right of access to everything remotely associated with criminal trials, and would be contrary to precedent employing more finely honed classifications. 40 The Herald also suggests that there is an expenditure of public funds tradition of access. This comparison collapses on examination as well. The premise is itself overbroad. Prosecutors, for instance, do not traditionally publish detailed information explaining their use of government resources, much less break it down on a case-by-case basis. See Gonzales, 150 F.3d at 1255. The CJA itself contemplates ex parte non-adversarial proceedings for certain determinations involving expenditures for indigent defense, despite the resulting expenditure of public funds. 41 As support for its public funds approach, the Herald argues that civil fee-shifting determinations have traditionally been public, and cites a district court opinion from Florida that used this analogy, United States v. Ellis, 154 F.R.D. 692, 695-96 (M.D.Fla.1993), aff'd on other grounds, 90 F.3d at 451 (In the civil context, there is a long history of detailed disclosure about attorney fees and the services rendered when there is a fee-shifting statute or contract.). That tradition is very different from the facts at hand. See generally Gonzales, 150 F.3d at 1257 (rejecting similar analogy between fee-shifting and CJA). Fee-shifting disputes occur in the context of adversarial litigation. Id. The claimant files a public document stating its fees and costs. That document is more akin to a statement of CJA funds paid to attorneys after they have been appointed — a statement which is generally made public and is quite different from data about a criminal defendant's personal financial circumstances. Moreover, attorney's fees in civil cases can be conceptualized as part of the award to a prevailing party for unlawful conduct against it if certain standards are met. See, e.g., Tamko Roofing Prods., Inc. v. Ideal Roofing Co., 282 F.3d 23, 30-32 (1st Cir.2002) (analyzing attorney's fee awards under Lanham Act in context of losing party's unlawful behavior). No such similar policy is involved in the determination that a defendant is eligible to have counsel appointed under the CJA. 42 Connolly offers a better analogy when he cites to government benefits programs administered by the executive branch, where the strong tradition is one of confidentiality rather than disclosure. See, e.g., 42 U.S.C. § 302(a)(7) (2000) (establishing safeguards to prevent public disclosure of information about Social Security recipients). We would think it the exception, not the rule, to require applicants for benefits programs to disclose private financial data about themselves and their immediate family to the public. 43 Finally, the Herald's reliance on dicta in Foley v. City of Lowell to demonstrate the public funds tradition is misplaced. 948 F.2d 10, 19 (1st Cir.1991) ([T]he continued viability of and confidence in the public funding of certain litigation are dependent on the perception that claims for counsel fees are subject ... to the independent review of a court.) (emphasis added by petitioner-appellant; internal quotation omitted). Foley had nothing to do with the CJA; it analyzed civil fee-shifting in a police brutality case under 42 U.S.C. § 1988. See 948 F.2d at 18. More fundamentally, Foley had nothing to do with public access; it concerned a court's independent duty to probe a civil plaintiff's calculation of awarded attorney's fees when the governmental defendant who would pay the fees mounted no meaningful opposition to it. Id. at 19 (At least where public funds are involved or the public interest is otherwise implicated, the court has a duty to consider the application critically to ensure overall fairness....). None of this lends any support to the existence of a relevant tradition of public access. 44 The judgment of experience does not support a constitutional right of access to CJA eligibility materials.
45 The other consideration under Press-Enterprise II is whether access to CJA eligibility documents plays a particularly significant positive role in the actual functioning of the process. 478 U.S. at 11, 106 S.Ct. 2735. Here, the process in question is one of determining eligibility for CJA assistance. Not only does public access to a defendant's financial documentation in support of a CJA application fall short of this standard, more likely it would play a negative role. 46 The scope of this standard warrants clarification. The Herald misinterprets the proper inquiry when it argues that privacy interests may receive no consideration at all during this stage. Instead, according to the Herald, countervailing interests do not even enter into the analysis until after the qualified right has been established. Only at that point, says the Herald, when the court considers whether particular circumstances overcome a qualified right of access, may it look to privacy or other concerns that militate against disclosure in a given case. But a test that is blind to the functional drawbacks of access becomes no test at all. The reason is that there are some kinds of government operations that would be totally frustrated if conducted openly, Press-Enterprise II, 478 U.S. at 9, 106 S.Ct. 2735 (discussing functional standard), or would at least be hindered. It may be that the process of determining CJA eligibility is one of those. That cannot be ascertained without some reference to the potential problems created by public access as well as to the advantages. 7 47 First, CJA eligibility determinations, if they are judicial at all, lie far from the core of judicial power or the merits of the criminal case. Many of the flagship functional justifications for access thus become less relevant. Unlike trials themselves, access to the defendant's CJA financial statements does not provide an outlet for community concern, hostility, and emotion concerning a crime. Richmond Newspapers, 448 U.S. at 571, 100 S.Ct. 2814. And, unlike other decisions that may impose official and practical consequences upon members of society at large, id. at 597, 100 S.Ct. 2814 (Brennan, J., concurring), CJA eligibility determinations never do so. 48 A remaining functional advantage which the Herald advances is the oft-cited need for the public to have the full understanding necessary to serve as an effective check on the system. Pokaski, 868 F.2d at 502, quoted in Providence Journal, 293 F.3d at 10. In isolation, the full understanding rationale proves too much — under it, even grand jury proceedings would be public. As to the effective check rationale, we have doubts about whether public scrutiny of an applicant's financial data would actually improve judges' decisionmaking as to CJA eligibility. See Gonzales, 150 F.3d at 1260. 49 Under the A.O. Guide framework, CJA eligibility decisions will be fully open to public scrutiny in cases where no particular privacy concerns are present for whatever reasons, or where the defendant does not object to disclosure. The fact that an application was filed and an attorney appointed are public matters which are entered on the docket of a case. The general reason for Connolly's financial need, rational on its face, was articulated in the order appointing his attorney, also a public document. The amounts of money paid to Connolly's attorney will presumably be made public in due course under the newest version of § 3006A(d)(4). The only significant aspects of Connolly's CJA application that were not made public are the details of his family's assets, liabilities, and financial obligations. 50 Public access to a defendant's financial information would not usually facilitate greater accuracy in decisionmaking. The standards for granting CJA assistance are flexible and give the benefit of the doubt to a defendant who applies for aid. The type of information on the forms is not typically in the public domain and so the public is not well-positioned to challenge accuracy. If the judge has doubts about the accuracy of the financial information submitted, the data may be investigated or more information provided by defendants, court officers, or prosecutors. See VII A.O. Guide § 2.03. If the data is inaccurate, the court may rescind the appointment and order the defendant to repay any funds spent. 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(f). Since a defendant's financial condition is usually investigated in the process of preparing a presentence report, the court is aware that, in the event of a conviction, there will be an independent examination of a defendant's financial status at that time. In addition, there are possible criminal consequences for a defendant who knowingly files false information; CJA Form 23 indicates clearly that it is signed and submitted under penalty of perjury. 51 Finally, each individual CJA appointment may involve a comparatively small amount of money, normally capped at $5,200 for a felony case. See 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(d)(2). The actual amount of money spent on appointed counsel is public. See id. § 3006A(d)(4). Under the functional standard of Press-Enterprise II, the real-world positive role of public scrutiny of CJA eligibility materials is negligible at best. 52 On the other hand, the disclosure of a defendant's sensitive personal financial information, which has no bearing on the merits of the criminal trial, could well undermine the judicial process in other ways. In itself, the invasion of privacy inherent in disclosing this data is of concern. See Corbitt, 879 F.2d at 230-32 (weighing defendants' personal privacy interests when maintaining seal on presentence reports). This concern is magnified by the crucial role of the CJA as a vehicle to effectuate Sixth Amendment rights for defendants who cannot afford legal representation. 53 A constitutionally-based right of access to otherwise private personal financial data of one's own and one's family imposes a high price on the exercise of one's constitutional right to obtain counsel if in financial need. Our system of justice cherishes the principle that defendants are not to be avoidably discriminated against because of their indigency. Holden v. United States, 393 F.2d 276, 278 (1st Cir.1968). But a strict disclosure requirement could well discourage eligible defendants from availing themselves of their right to counsel by forcing them to choose between privacy and CJA assistance — a choice that other defendants do not face. 8 The specter of disclosure also might lead defendants (or other sources called upon by the court) to withhold information. Public disclosure of such information may put them at risk of harm to their property or their families if the information is misused by their enemies. There is a prospect of unbalancing the scales in a criminal prosecution if the information in CJA application materials could assist the prosecution, thus raising the specter of claims of denial of Fifth Amendment rights. Cf. Gonzales, 150 F.3d at 1259 ([CJA] information obtained after judgment could still be used by the government to investigate and bring new charges....). Such effects tend to disrupt, not enhance, the functioning of the process. 54 Under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, presentence reports must contain the very same type of financial information as is found in CJA forms. See Fed.R.Crim.P. 32(d)(2)(A)(ii). But presentence reports are presumptively confidential documents. [T]he courts have typically required some showing of special need before they will allow a third party to obtain a copy of a presentence report. U.S. Dep't of Justice v. Julian, 486 U.S. 1, 12, 108 S.Ct. 1606, 100 L.Ed.2d 1 (1988); see United States v. Smith, 13 F.3d 860, 867 (5th Cir.1994); Corbitt, 879 F.2d at 229. This standard for disclosure is obviously not the First Amendment standard, which presumes disclosure. As another circuit noted, even in the face of a Brady request for information from another defendant's presentence report, the financial condition of the defendant is confidential and intensely personal. United States v. Trevino, 89 F.3d 187, 191 (4th Cir.1996). No circuit court has held that third parties have a constitutional right of access to presentence reports; rather, courts have reached the contrary result. See Corbitt, 879 F.2d at 237. Self-evidently, the presentence report, on which sentences are based, is closer to the heart of judicial proceedings than the CJA eligibility documents. It is difficult to understand why, if there is no First Amendment right of access to information about a defendant's financial condition at sentencing and during his imprisonment, there could be a First Amendment right of access to a statement of the defendant's financial information at trial, when he is presumed innocent and is merely exercising his Sixth Amendment right to counsel. 55 On balance, then, disclosure would not play a particularly significant positive role in the actual functioning of the process of determining CJA eligibility. Press-Enterprise II, 478 U.S. at 11, 106 S.Ct. 2735. Rather, disclosure is likely to play a negative role. Nor do the lessons of tradition support the wisdom of public access. The First Amendment does not grant a right of access, over the defendant's objection, to financial documents submitted to demonstrate the defendant's eligibility for CJA funds. The current CJA framework, in which these materials are typically disclosed unless the court decides that the documents should be sealed, is constitutional.