A.P. Request for Access Denied in Baseball Steroids Case
From Tom Casazzone, Citizen Media Law Project Intern...
A federal district court in Arizona has denied a request filed by the Associated Press to reveal the names of Major League Baseball players allegedly implicated in the use of performance-enhancing drugs. In this case, which has received extensive coverage in the New York Times and elsewhere, Jason Grimsley, a former major league pitcher, supplied a federal agent with the names of ballplayers that he said used performance-enhancing drugs in the past. A federal agent used these names in an affidavit to support a warrant to search Grimsley's home last year. When the affidavit and warrant were made public in June 2006, the players' names had been blacked out. The A.P. then requested access to the entire affidavit, asking the court to reveal the names that were blacked out.
The A.P. claimed a First Amendment and common law right of access to the original affidavit. According to the Supreme Court, there is a general presumption of access to court filings, and the presumption "may be overcome only by an overriding interest based on findings that closure is essential to preserve higher values and is narrowly tailored to serve that interest." Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court, 464 U.S. 501, 511 (1986). Courts therefore must apply a balancing test to determine whether the government's interest in secrecy outweighs the public interest in disclosure.
The A.P. argued that the privacy interests of the individuals named in the affidavit were insufficient to overcome the right of the public to access court filings. Additionally, the news agency claimed that the government shared the original affidavit (without blacked-out names) to former Senator George Mitchell, who is leading Major League Baseball's steroid investigation. The A.P. maintained that the court should consider this prior disclosure as diminishing the government's claim to maintain secrecy.
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A federal district court in Arizona has denied a request filed by the Associated Press to reveal the names of Major League Baseball players allegedly implicated in the use of performance-enhancing drugs. In this case, which has received extensive coverage in the New York Times and elsewhere, Jason Grimsley, a former major league pitcher, supplied a federal agent with the names of ballplayers that he said used performance-enhancing drugs in the past. A federal agent used these names in an affidavit to support a warrant to search Grimsley's home last year. When the affidavit and warrant were made public in June 2006, the players' names had been blacked out. The A.P. then requested access to the entire affidavit, asking the court to reveal the names that were blacked out.
The A.P. claimed a First Amendment and common law right of access to the original affidavit. According to the Supreme Court, there is a general presumption of access to court filings, and the presumption "may be overcome only by an overriding interest based on findings that closure is essential to preserve higher values and is narrowly tailored to serve that interest." Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court, 464 U.S. 501, 511 (1986). Courts therefore must apply a balancing test to determine whether the government's interest in secrecy outweighs the public interest in disclosure.
The A.P. argued that the privacy interests of the individuals named in the affidavit were insufficient to overcome the right of the public to access court filings. Additionally, the news agency claimed that the government shared the original affidavit (without blacked-out names) to former Senator George Mitchell, who is leading Major League Baseball's steroid investigation. The A.P. maintained that the court should consider this prior disclosure as diminishing the government's claim to maintain secrecy.
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