{"id":631352,"date":"2025-09-12T18:53:30","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T22:53:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/?p=631352"},"modified":"2025-09-12T18:53:36","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T22:53:36","slug":"federal-judge-rules-in-favor-of-news-outlets-in-dispute-with-judiciary-over-access-to-newly-filed-lawsuits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2025\/09\/12\/federal-judge-rules-in-favor-of-news-outlets-in-dispute-with-judiciary-over-access-to-newly-filed-lawsuits\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal judge rules in favor of news outlets in dispute with judiciary over access to newly filed lawsuits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"799\" data-attachment-id=\"530177\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/christina-reiss-1-20211015\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/christina-reiss-1-20211015.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2000,1331\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.8&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Glenn Russell&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON Z 6&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;U.S. District Court Judge Christina Reiss speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new mental health facility on the grounds of the former Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center in Essex on Friday, October 15, 2021.&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1634307946&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Glenn Russell&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;200&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;560&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.001&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;christina-reiss-1-20211015&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"christina-reiss-1-20211015\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;U.S. District Court Judge Christina Reiss speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new mental health facility on the grounds of the former Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center in Essex on Friday, October 15, 2021.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;U.S. District Court Judge Christina Reiss speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new mental health facility on the grounds of the former Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center in Essex on Friday, October 15, 2021. Photo by Glenn Russell\/VTDigger&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/christina-reiss-1-20211015-300x200.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/christina-reiss-1-20211015-1200x799.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/christina-reiss-1-20211015-1200x799.jpg\" alt=\"A woman in a blazer speaks at an outdoor podium, with a microphone in front of her and three blurred people in the background.\" class=\"wp-image-530177\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/christina-reiss-1-20211015-1200x799.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/christina-reiss-1-20211015-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/christina-reiss-1-20211015-125x83.jpg 125w, https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/christina-reiss-1-20211015-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/christina-reiss-1-20211015-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/christina-reiss-1-20211015.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">U.S. District Court Judge Christina Reiss speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new mental health facility on the grounds of the former Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center in Essex on Oct. 15, 2021. File photo by Glenn Russell\/VTDigger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>A federal judge has granted an injunction against the Vermont judiciary in a legal action brought by news outlets aimed at curbing delays when seeking newly filed civil lawsuits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ruling issued this month by Judge Christina Reiss is the latest turn <a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2021\/05\/23\/news-outlets-first-amendment-groups-bring-suit-over-access-to-court-records\/\">in the lawsuit brought by news outlets<\/a> and other First Amendment advocates more than four years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The judge added in the ruling that she would now consider whether to grant attorneys fees to cover the expenses of the lawyers who argued the case on behalf of the organizations, a figure that is expected to total more than $1 million.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-light-blue-background-color has-background\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50)\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-1c1b4f74 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left has-primary-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-c0213cbd22f6b8fbb5ef50a67f12df73\" style=\"padding-bottom:0\">READ MORE<\/h5>\n\n\n\t<div\n\t\tclass=\"wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles  wpnbha show-image image-alignleft ts-4 is-2 is-landscape mobile-stack  has-text-align-left\"\n\t\tstyle=\"\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t<div data-posts data-current-post-id=\"631352\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t<article data-post-id=\"472984\"\n\t\tclass=\"tag-burlington-free-press tag-courthouse-news-service tag-first-amendment tag-mike-donoghue tag-new-england-first-amendment-coalition tag-patricia-gabel tag-seven-days tag-vermont-media tag-vermont-news-media tag-vermont-newspapers tag-vermont-press-association tag-vtdigger-org tag-wcax category-public-safety type-post post-has-image\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"post-thumbnail\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2021\/05\/23\/news-outlets-first-amendment-groups-bring-suit-over-access-to-court-records\/\" rel=\"bookmark\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/DSC_0243.jpg\" class=\"attachment-newspack-article-block-landscape-tiny size-newspack-article-block-landscape-tiny wp-post-image\" alt=\"News outlets, First Amendment groups bring suit over access to court records\" data-hero-candidate=\"1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/DSC_0243.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/DSC_0243-125x93.jpg 125w, https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/DSC_0243-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/DSC_0243-610x455.jpg 610w, https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/DSC_0243-150x112.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 782px) 600px, (min-width: 600px) 42.5vw, 90vw\" data-attachment-id=\"494638\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2015\/03\/26\/courts-to-again-try-video-arraignment\/dsc_0243\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/DSC_0243.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1024,764\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1427276738&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Patricia Gabel\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Patricia Gabel, the court administrator for the Judiciary. File Photo by Elizabeth Hewitt\/VTDigger&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Patricia Gabel, the court administrator for the Judiciary. File Photo by Elizabeth Hewitt\/VTDigger&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/DSC_0243-300x224.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/DSC_0243-610x455.jpg\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure><!-- .featured-image -->\n\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"entry-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/2021\/05\/23\/news-outlets-first-amendment-groups-bring-suit-over-access-to-court-records\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">News outlets, First Amendment groups bring suit over access to court records<\/a><\/h2>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"byline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"author-prefix\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author vcard\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/vtdigger.org\/author\/alan-j-keays\/\">Alan J. Keays<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><!-- .author-name -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"entry-date published updated\" datetime=\"2021-05-23T08:40:00-04:00\">May 23, 2021, 8:40 am<\/time>\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-meta -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-wrapper -->\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Reiss, in the four-page order, wrote that the process the judiciary had used to screen lawsuits for potential confidential materials before making them publicly available delayed the release of the records and violated the First Amendment rights of the news outlets.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the legal action, the timely access to the filings allows for the public to understand what\u2019s happening in the court system, provides for accountability and informs people about matters of public concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPlaintiffs have a presumptive right First Amendment right of access to newly filed complaints, which attaches upon the court\u2019s receipt of such complaints,\u201d Reiss wrote in the ruling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Courthouse News Service, a Pasadena, California-based company, was joined by news outlets across Vermont in its lawsuit filed in May 2021 in federal court in Burlington.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Courthouse News Service, according to its website, \u201ccovers news, both national and international, that moves society and its many elements in one direction or another.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jonathan G. Fetterly, a California attorney who argued the case on behalf of parties bringing the action, said in a statement this week that Reiss\u2019 ruling was a \u201cgreat victory for public access\u201d following years of \u201chard fought litigation.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The parties joining in the legal action were the Vermont Press Association and the New England First Amendment Coalition, as well as the parent entities of VTDigger.org, Seven Days, the Burlington Free Press and WCAX-TV.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other participants signing onto the case were the Vermont Community Newspaper Group, which operates weekly newspapers in several communities including Stowe, Morristown, Shelburne, South Burlington and Charlotte, and the parent company of the Rutland Herald\/Barre-Montpelier Times Argus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is another important victory for the public when it comes to transparency at the courts all across Vermont,\u201d Mike Donoghue, executive director of the Vermont Press Association, said Friday of the ruling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Teri Corsones, Vermont\u2019s state court administrator, said in a text message Friday, &#8220;The Judiciary certainly values the public&#8217;s right to access to court filings, while also taking important steps to protect sensitive information.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Corsones referred specific questions related to the ruling to the Vermont Attorney General&#8217;s Office, which represented the judiciary in the lawsuit. In turn, the Attorney General&#8217;s Office, later Friday, referred specific questions about the ruling to judiciary officials. Leda Moloff, general counsel for the Vermont judiciary, wrote in a text late Friday that judiciary officials had no further comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The lawsuit has been working its way through the court system for years, including a stop at the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals before landing back in federal district court in Vermont earlier this year.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Courthouse News Service, in a filing more than two years ago, stated that the attorneys\u2019 fees and costs associated with bringing the action already totaled more than $1 million.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reiss, the judge, asked the parties to submit a briefing schedule related to attorneys\u2019 fees by later this month regarding the issue.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The decision issued earlier this month comes in a lawsuit filed more than four years ago challenging delays in the state\u2019s court system associated with obtaining civil complaints. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1040,"featured_media":530177,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-feature.php","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-09-12T22:53:35Z","apple_news_api_id":"a594cefc-8e38-4620-bcfa-244390db4bf1","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-09-12T22:53:41Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/ApZTO_I44RiC8-iRDkNtL8Q","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"everlit_article_id":"","everlit_hide_embed":false,"everlit_embed_size":"","everlit_generation_settings":[],"_everlit_article_id":"","_everlit_hide_embed":false,"_everlit_embed_size":"","_everlit_generation_settings":[],"_everlit_content_hash":"","_everlit_metadata_hash":"","_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"The decision issued earlier this month comes in a lawsuit filed more than four years ago challenging delays in the state\u2019s court system associated with obtaining civil complaints.","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[162359],"tags":[32642,1076,153209],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"govpack_profile_tax":[],"coauthors":[162289],"class_list":["post-631352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government-politics","tag-christina-reiss","tag-first-amendment","tag-vermont-news-media","entry"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - 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