Courthouse News Service v. George Schaefer
2f4th318
| 4th Cir. | 2021Background
- Courthouse News reporters covering Norfolk City and Prince William County, VA, experienced repeated delays accessing newly filed civil complaints and tracked filing-to-access times for several months (Jan–Jun 2018).
- Courthouse News sued the two court clerks in July 2018 seeking declaratory and injunctive relief under the First Amendment.
- At a four-day bench trial the district court found a First Amendment right of contemporaneous access to newly filed civil complaints, concluded the clerks’ historical delays violated that right, and entered a declaratory judgment (denying injunctive relief).
- Trial evidence: same-day availability was low during the tracking period (e.g., Norfolk 19% in May 2018; Prince William 42.4% in July 2018); many complaints were unavailable for two or more court days.
- After the suit was filed, both clerks substantially improved access (≈88–92% same-day availability by late 2018) without hiring new staff or changing hours; the district court nonetheless found pre-suit delays unjustified.
- The clerks appealed; the Fourth Circuit affirmed the declaratory judgment, rejecting mootness, abstention, and misjoinder arguments and endorsing the district court’s contemporaneous-access standard.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mootness / voluntary cessation | Courthouse News argued case not moot because clerks could revert to prior practices; declaratory relief still appropriate | Clerks argued improvements mooted the case; no formal policy change so relief unnecessary | Not moot: voluntary cessation doctrine applies; defendants must show it is absolutely clear the conduct won’t recur, which they did not do |
| Abstention (Younger/Rizzo/O’Shea) | Courthouse News said federal court should hear constitutional claim; no ongoing state proceedings affected | Clerks urged abstention based on federalism and judicial-process concerns | Abstention inappropriate: no pending state proceeding; Younger/Rizzo/O’Shea do not require dismissal; district court did not abuse discretion |
| Joinder / misjoinder | Courthouse News joined similar claims against both clerks | Clerks contended claims arose from different transactions and should be severed | Joinder proper under Rule 20 (logical relationship; common questions of law/fact); district court did not abuse discretion |
| First Amendment right to access complaints (experience & logic) | Courthouse News: long tradition of public access to complaints and public access plays a positive role (transparency, docket understanding) | Clerks conceded historical openness but argued access need not be contemporaneous or prior to judicial action | Held: experience and logic test satisfied; there is a qualified First Amendment right of contemporaneous access to newly filed civil complaints |
| Scope / standard and application to facts | Courthouse News sought contemporaneous (same-day) access; sought injunctive and declaratory relief | Clerks argued delays resembled permissible time/place/manner limits or were justified by operational needs | Court adopted flexible standard: make complaints available same day when practicable, otherwise by next court day (with allowance for minor/extraordinary exceptions); applied to record and found clerks’ historical delays unconstitutional; declaratory judgment affirmed |
Key Cases Cited
- Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court, 478 U.S. 1 (experience-and-logic test for access)
- Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia, 448 U.S. 555 (public access promotes confidence and accountability)
- Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court, 457 U.S. 596 (limits of access and scrutiny of injunctive relief)
- Doe v. Pub. Citizen, 749 F.3d 246 (4th Cir.) (access to court records; contemporaneous standard discussion)
- In re United States for an Order Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 2603(D), 707 F.3d 283 (4th Cir.) (applying experience-and-logic test)
- Courthouse News Serv. v. Planet, 947 F.3d 581 (9th Cir.) (access to civil complaints; contemporaneous access discussion)
- Baltimore Sun Co. v. Goetz, 886 F.2d 60 (4th Cir.) (access to search warrant affidavits)
- Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment, 523 U.S. 83 (jurisdictional review)
- Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc., 568 U.S. 85 (voluntary cessation and mootness)
- Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services, 528 U.S. 167 (burden to show mootness via voluntary cessation)