PNA Legal Hotline: Court evidence presumed to be public
From the
PNA Legal
Hotline
By Teri
Henning, General Counsel
and Melissa Melewsky, Media Law Counsel
Pennsylvania
Newspaper Association
Q: A civil lawsuit involving a local
government agency is pending and the parties have
filed audio and video evidence with the court. Is
this evidence public and can I get a copy?
A: Yes, evidence filed with the court is
considered to be “judicial record” subject to the
Constitutional presumption of access and you
should be entitled to a copy absent an order
sealing the record.
Judicial records are presumptively public
pursuant to the U.S. and Pennsylvania
Constitutions as well as common law principles.
Generally, once a record is filed with the court,
it is considered a judicial record subject to the
presumption of access. The presumption also
extends to records relied upon by the court in
its decision-making process such as letters
submitted to the court regarding sentencing.
A party seeking to overcome the presumption of
access has the burden to show that the need for
secrecy outweighs the public interest in
disclosure. The courts must balance the competing
interests and find good cause for closure in
order to seal a record. If a judicial record has
not been sealed for good cause shown on the
record, it is public and you are entitled to
access.
Pennsylvania Newspaper Association attorneys provide member newspapers with advice on government access issues.