By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell Book
BBC-Guardian UK - NY Mag CIA Trial Book
SDNY COURTHOUSE, July 26 – Amid the criminal retrial of Joshua Schulte under the Espionage Age, Inner City Press looked into Schulte's civil lawsuit - and found much of it sealed and unviewable by the public.
And so on July 5 Inner City Press filed this with U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Jesse M. Furman, now presiding over both cases (but not that of the cooperator against Schulte, Carlos Betances)
Dear Judge Furman: Inner City Press is covering defendant Schulte's above-captioned criminal trial before this Court. As part of its reporting it sought to access filings in the civil case Schulte v. Attorney General, 19-cv-3346 (JMF) but found for many of them the response in PACER, "You do not have permission to view this document."
This is the case, for example, for Dkt No. 17, Schulte's April 22, 2022 letter to this Court, about "inhumane confinement conditions and other issues stemming from the government's investigation [of] the WikiLeaks Vault 7 disclosures."
It is also the case for Dkt No. 14, Affidavit Accompanying Motion for Permission to Appeal in Forma Pauperis; Dkt No. 8, regarding dismissal of motions in the case; Docket 6, Petition (Motion); Dkt No. 7, "Plaintiff Petition to End Torture;" and even Dkt No. 5, a letter seeking a hearing on why these filings are sealed.
It is not clear at whose request these filings are sealed and not available to the public.
This is a public / Press challenge to their withholding from the public. The right of access is not limited to criminal matters. See, e.g., Lugosch v. Pyramid Co. of Onondaga, 435 F.3d 110, 124 (2d Cir. 2006) (right of access applied to summary judgment motions in civil matter); and In re Pineapple Antitrust Litig., No. 04 MD. 1628, 2015 WL 5439090, at *2 (SDNY 2015) ("There is.. no requirement that the application be made before the lawsuit is closed.")
Please confirm receipt & again docket this filing. Thank you. Respectfully submitted, /s/ Matthew Russell Lee, Inner City Press
cc: charles.jacob at usdoj dot gov
On July 8, Judge Furman to his credit docketed the request and ordered this:
" On July 5, 2022, Matthew Russell Lee, representing Inner City Press, submitted the attached request to unseal certain documents filed in this case. The case was sealed before being reassigned to the undersigned. The Court concludes that there is no reason for the majority of the docket to remain under seal, and it will now be unsealed. The sole exception is Plaintiff’s submission at ECF No. 2-1, which is undergoing review. If, after review, the Court concludes that it need not be sealed, the Court will promptly enter an order unsealing it.
The Clerk of Court is directed to remove all viewing restrictions on the documents in this case, except ECF No. 2-1, which should remain under Court and participant view only. The Clerk of Court is further directed to mail a copy of this Order to Plaintiff in the Metropolitan Detention Center. SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Jesse M. Furman on 7/8/2022)." DocumentCloud here
Dated July 25, but not docketed until July 26 after the first post conviction proceeding on Schulte, Judge Furman unsealed Schulte's habeus corpus petition, now on Inner City Press' documentCloud here.
The case is Schulte v. Attorney General of the US, et al, 19-cv-3346 (Furman) Watch this site.
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