Hartford Courant Co. v. Carroll

Decision Date01 February 2021
Docket NumberDocket No. 20-2744-cv,August Term 2020
Parties HARTFORD COURANT COMPANY, LLC, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Patrick L. CARROLL, III, in his Official Capacity as Chief Court Administrator of the Connecticut Superior Court, Ann-Margaret Archer, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Karen A. Berris, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Robert Burke, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Antonio D'Addeo, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Ralph Dagostine, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Cynthia Degoursey, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Jill Driscoll, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Caroline Fargeorge, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, David S. Gage, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Eric R. Groody, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Lisa C. Groody, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Tammy Fluet, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Richard L. Haas, Jr., in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Kerri Hall, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, William M. Hoey, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Judith Lee, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Laura A. Leigh, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Debora Kaszuba Neary, Cara Parkinson, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Brandon Pelegano, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Gina Pickett, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, James Quinn, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Jennifer Robinson, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Mark Shea, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Roy Smith, Jr., in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Giovanni Spennato, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Geoffrey Stowell, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Haralabos Valassis, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Julie Vanam, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Robert A. Wilock, II, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Brandi Yanavich, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Marci Young, in their respective Official Capacities as Chief Clerks and Deputy Chief Clerks in the Judicial District and Geographical Area courts of the Connecticut Superior Court, Defendants-Appellants.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

Katie Townsend, The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Washington, D.C. (William S. Fish, Jr., Hinckley, Allen & Snyder LLP, Hartford Connecticut, on the brief), for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Alma Rose Nunley, Assistant Attorney General (Clare Kindall, Solicitor General, Michael Skold, Assistant Attorney General, on the brief), for William Tong, Attorney General, Hartford, Connecticut, for Defendants-Appellants.

David A. Shulz, Sara Sampoli (Law Student), and Emily Wang (Law Student), Yale Law School Media Freedom & Information Access Clinic, New Haven, Connecticut, for Amicus Curiae Floyd Abrams Institute For Freedom of Expression, in support of Plaintiff-Appellee.

Before: Chin, Bianco, And Menashi, Circuit Judges.

Chin, Circuit Judge:

In 2019, the Connecticut state legislature enacted Public Act Number 19-187, now codified as Connecticut General Statute § 46b-127 (the "Act"). The Act mandated the automatic sealing of all judicial records and the closure to the public of all court proceedings in cases transferred from the juvenile docket to the regular criminal docket. Plaintiff-appellee Hartford Courant Company, LLC (the "Courant") sued, alleging that the Act violated its right of access to judicial proceedings and records guaranteed by the First Amendment and seeking to enjoin defendants-appellants ("defendants"), who are administrators and clerks at the Connecticut Superior Court, from enforcing the Act. The district court granted the Courant's motion for a preliminary injunction, concluding that the Act violated the Courant's First Amendment rights. On appeal, defendants argue that the district court erred in (1) holding that there is a First Amendment qualified right of access to court records and proceedings in cases transferred from the juvenile docket to the regular criminal docket, (2) finding that the Act was not narrowly tailored to serve a compelling state interest, and (3) granting the preliminary injunction.

As discussed more fully below, we hold that the Courant has a qualified First Amendment right of access to criminal prosecutions of juveniles in regular criminal court. We further hold that the Act infringes on that right because it is not narrowly tailored to serve a compelling state interest. Accordingly, we agree with the district court that the Act is unconstitutional, and we AFFIRM the district court's preliminary injunction.

BACKGROUND
I. Statutory Background

Connecticut has a detailed statutory scheme governing the prosecution of juveniles charged with committing crimes. See Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-120 et seq . All proceedings concerning "delinquent children" in Connecticut fall under the jurisdiction of the Connecticut Superior Court's family division, id. § 46b-121(a)(2)(A), (b)(1), referred to as the "docket for juvenile matters," id. § 46b-127, or the "juvenile docket," State v. Morales , 240 Conn. 727, 694 A.2d 758, 761 (1997). Proceedings in cases on the juvenile docket are held in private as far as is practicable, and the records of those proceedings are sealed to the public. Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 46b-122, 46b-124.

Where a child charged is between the ages of fifteen and seventeen and committed a capital felony or certain class A or B felonies, the family division is required to transfer the case from the juvenile docket to the superior court's "regular criminal docket." Id. § 46b-127(a)(1). Additionally, on the recommendation of the prosecutor, the family division in its discretion may transfer a case from the juvenile docket to the regular criminal docket if the child charged was fifteen-to-seventeen-years old when he or she committed the offense, "there is probable cause to believe the child has committed the act," and "the best interests of the child and the public will not be served by maintaining the case in the superior court for juvenile matters." Id. § 46b-127(a)(3).1 Discretionary...

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