by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE, June 7 – A criminal proceeding was set to begin on June 7, 2023 just before 4 pm - but then was canceled in stages once the Press indicated it did not intend to leave without an order sealing the courtroom and an opportunity to object on record.
Inner City Press was present in the courtroom of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge P. Kevin Castel.
Defense lawyer Howard R. Leader came over and politely asked, Are you here for this?
I am here, the Press answered, informing Leader of a recent order by SDNY Judge Victor Marrero that even asking for the docket number and basis for sealing is not enough to constitute an objection. Order on DocumentCloud here.
That case is entirely sealed, with no public docket number. This case, it was easy enough to reverse engineer.
Inner City Press, which as the prosecutors and then Leader left informed them that it had no desire to waste anyone's time, only to vindicate the principle of open courts, will be writing to Judge Castel - in part because it seemed clear the plan was and is to simply reconvene the proceeding on no public notice at another time, counting on the Press not finding out and being present.
This is inconsistent with open courts. Watch this site.
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