Opinion ID: 391003
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Fact of Objection and Identity of Those Objecting to Disclosure

Text: 54 Strong objections were raised to the unsealing order both by the individual defendants and, to the extent it was permitted, by the Church. This is an obvious but important consideration. The kinds of property and privacy interests asserted by the Church to require retention of the documents under seal can be waived by failure to assert them in timely fashion, 100 and the strength with which a party asserts its interests is a significant indication of the importance of those rights to that party. 55 An important element in this case is the fact that the party from whom the documents were seized was not made a defendant in the proceedings and now objects to public access to the fruits of the seizure. We think that where a third party's property and privacy rights are at issue the need for minimizing intrusion is especially great and the public interest in access to materials which have never been judicially determined to be relevant to the crimes charged is especially small. 101 56 We are well aware that all defendants here were officials or employees of the Church and that the defendants' interests and the Church's interests are integrally related; nonetheless it is also true that their interests are not identical. The defendants might not be permitted 102 and are certainly not required to raise the Church's interests in preventing public access to the documents at issue. Even in the context of this case, then, we think the fact that objection to access is made by a third party weighs in favor of non-disclosure. 57