HARTFORD COURANT COMPANY, LLC v. CARROLL

Docket No. 20-2744-cv August Term 2020.

986 F.3d 211 (2021)

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.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Decided: February 1, 2021.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

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.


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...

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