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

Heading: Positive Functional Role

Text: 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.