Opinion ID: 1752011
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Appropriateness of the Writ

Text: This case has a different posture than most cases concerning the sealing of documents. Usually the issue presented and litigated on appeal concerns an order by the trial court that grants a motion to deny access to court documents and records. See, e.g., In re The Courier-Journal v. Marshall, 828 F.2d 361 (6th Cir.1987). In a denial of access case, media representatives have the right to intervene and request a hearing on the trial court's order. See Courier-Journal and Louisville Times Co. v. Peers, Ky., 747 S.W.2d 125, 130 (1988). Once a media representative moves to intervene and requests a hearing, the representative may attack an adverse ruling by petitioning the Court of Appeals for a writ of mandamus or prohibition. Id. at 129. Peers held that the denial of access to court records and documents represents exigent circumstances justifying coming directly to the appellate courts for an extraordinary remedy, i.e., prohibition or mandamus. Id. But where there is no order denying access, there are no exigent circumstances to justify granting the writ. Rather, the party seeking the writ, the Diocese in this case, must satisfy the usual and strict requirements for justifying relief by prohibition or mandamus. We now turn to the question of whether the Diocese has shown that it is entitled to relief. A writ of mandamus is an extraordinary remedy. University of Louisville v. Shake, Ky., 5 S.W.3d 107, 110 (1999). As there is no allegation that the court below is acting without jurisdiction, before we can reach the merits of the Diocese's petition, the Diocese ordinarily must first establish that it has no adequate remedy by appeal and that it will suffer great and irreparable injury if the writ is not granted. Bender v. Eaton, Ky., 343 S.W.2d 799, 801 (1961).