Court Opinion

ID: 9761209
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 01:34:32.412633+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:20.985027
License: Public Domain

CAVANAUGH, Judge,
concurring:
I join the majority opinion but write separately only to add that in my view the “notice” that the court is considering closure of a pre-trial hearing may be as simple as a court’s response to a motion for closure at the outset of a hearing. Our courts are burdened by a large number of pre-trial hearings and closure often is properly ordered for reasons having nothing to do with media coverage of the hearing. Notice should not be equated with notification and I think we must avoid any decision which unnecessarily enmeshes the trial courts in a procedural straightjacket which will inevitably cause further confusion and delay. In the great majority of cases there is no interest in opposing an order of closure, and in those where the public’s right to know is being asserted, ordinary vigilance by its proponents will ensure an adequate opportunity to be heard. For the same reasons I would not require the court to articulate its reasons for closure prior to an order of closure, unless there has been some opposition to closure. Finally, I would add that it is my understanding that our reversal of the order below should not be read as in any way affecting the verdict below or any subsequent judgment of sentence thereon.