DOJ Wins Secrecy of ICE Case After Getting Inner City Press Escorted Out of EDNY & Clerk

DOJ Wins Secrecy of ICE Case After Getting Inner City Press Escorted Out of EDNY & Clerk by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack EDNY COURTHOUSE, Nov. 11 — In yet another ICE habeas corpus case that will now remain largely non-public, EDNY Judge Rachel P. Kovner on Nov. 4 treated Inner City Press’s emailed request for public remote access as a “one-time courtesy” and told it that “in the future, requests for court action should be filed through ECF or the Clerk’s Office.” The case is Cepeda Guaman v. Maldonado, 1:26-cv-05827, a Sept. 21 petition by Darwin Adrian Cepeda Guaman against Raul Maldonado Jr., Markwayne Mullin, Todd Blanche and David J. Venturella, with a temporary restraining order motion, a motion to expedite and a motion to bar redetention if he is released. Judge Kovner docketed the request as Dkt. 16 and ordered the government and the petitioner to each file a letter of no more than three pages on it by Nov. 10.  Her order also invoked Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2(c)(2), which limits a non-party’s remote electronic access in actions “relating to … immigration benefits or detention” to the docket and to “an opinion, order, judgment, or other disposition of the court,” “unless the court orders otherwise,” though a non-party may still see the “full record at the courthouse.”  That is the problem. The docket entries and orders are public, but the petition, the government’s return and the other filings are not available to the public online, and Inner City Press has been removed from the courthouse.  On Nov. 4, Inner City Press was escorted out of the Brooklyn courthouse by three Court Security Officers and had its press passes for the Clase and Huawei trials taken, after the U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman, John Marzulli, ordered it out of Judge Matsumoto’s courtroom for using a cell phone while many others did the same. So the court’s suggested remedy, filing through the Clerk’s Office or viewing the “full record at the courthouse,” is one Inner City Press cannot use in practice. It cannot enter the building, and it cannot see the case on the public terminal there. Inner City Press’s position is that this amounts to censorship and a cover-up, and that it traces to Mr. Marzulli, whose office represents the respondents in this case.  What the public cannot see matters here. Judge Kovner’s order of the same day directed the government to file by Nov. 10 a supplemental return that “identifies the statutory provision under which petitioner is currently detained and states whether a final order of removal exists as to petitioner and, if so, the date and basis on which the order became final,” attaching the Board of Immigration Appeals’ Oct. 29, 2026 decision. The petitioner may respond by Nov. 13. But on November 11 this, keeping the ICE case limited to those allowed into the EDNY courthouse by the District Executive (and, apparently, DOJ / the US Attorney's Office spokesman Marzulli) - "ORDER: On November 4, 2026, the Court informed the parties that it had received a 16 request from non-party Matthew Russell Lee to allow public remote electronic access to all filings in this case. See Text Order dated 11/4/2026; Dkt. #16. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2(c)(2) already provides that non-parties "have electronic access to the full record at the courthouse" as well as "remote electronic access" to the docket and any "opinion, order, judgment, or other disposition of the court." Petitioner opposed Mr. Lee's request, noting the default balance struck by Rule 5.2(c) already "serves [Mr. Lee's] stated interest in public understanding of the government's conduct" and that Mr. Lee "identifies no reason specific to this case to depart from the default." Dkt. #17. Respondents likewise submitted that neither they nor Mr. Lee had identified any basis to alter the Rule's balance. Dkt. #18 at 4. In light of the foregoing, Mr. Lee's request is denied. Ordered by Judge Rachel P. Kovner on 11/11/2026. (CFD) (Entered: 11/11/2026)"  This differs from the rulings in SDNY (for example newer judge John P. Cronan) and even EDNY, Judge Hector Gonzalez. Then again, an identical request, it seems has still not be docketed - not being able to check the terminal, we can't know. This situation is unacceptable. Watch this site. *** Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron. Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com Mail: Box 130222, Chinatown Station, NY NY 10013 Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.  Copyright 2006-2026 Inner City Press, Inc. To request reprint or other permission, e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com