Doe v. Doe (In re Fayetteville Observer)
The Reporters Committee joined a media coalition amicus brief in support of The Fayetteville Observer‘s motion to unseal a totally sealed civil case in North Carolina state court, in which everything in the case file, including the docket, identities of the parties and their counsel, and the sealing orders themselves, were under seal. The trial court denied the motion, and the newspaper appealed to the North Carolina Court of Appeals. The amicus brief argues that the wholesale sealing of the case violates the North Carolina and U.S. consitutions and is contrary to North Carolina precedent. The amicus brief also argues that courts in other judisdictions have reversed similarly broad sealing orders and that the total sealing of this case undermines public confidence in the judicial system. The brief was drafted by attorneys from Stevens Martin Vaughn & Tadych, PLLC.