In re U.S. Dep't of Justice Motion to Compel Facebook to Provide Technical Assistance in Sealed Case
In re U.S. Dep't of Justice Motion to Compel Facebook to Provide Technical Assistance in Sealed Case
Opinion of the Court
I. BACKGROUND AND ISSUES
On November 28, 2018, Applicants American Civil Liberties Foundation ("ACLU") and W.P. Company LLC, dba The Washington Post, filed applications for the Court to unseal its court ruling pertaining *1043to the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") and Facebook, Inc. ("Facebook").
On February 7, 2018, both DOJ and Facebook filed responses to the pending applications. Due to the substantive nature of the responses that parallel the reasons the proceedings were sealed in the first instance, both of their requests to allow the sealing of those responses are hereby GRANTED.
The original motions, requests, substantive documents in support and in opposition, evidentiary hearing, and resulting Court Order of Decision were closed and sealed, upon motion and request, because the Court determined and made findings that:
1. The Government's assertion that disclosure of the legal materials, testimony, and ultimate Order would jeopardize both the then-current and subsequent criminal investigations of future cases (both categories involving and emanating from Title III wiretap processes) was a valid and legitimate factual and legal concern; and
2. Facebook's assertion that its internal processes that were the subject of the Government's motion constituted trademark and protected material and information, and that public disclosure would provide such protected information to competitors, thereby jeopardizing substantial business quality, productivity, and profit, was legitimate, true, and reasonable.
The Government opposes the instant requests to unseal. Facebook supports the requests on the condition that any disclosed materials be subject to limited redaction.
The issues raised by the requests to unseal are:
• whether the public has First Amendment and common law rights of access to the court records sought; and
• if so, whether the Government has articulated compelling reasons that outweigh the public's right of access.
II. DISCUSSION
The Court recognizes that Applicants are handicapped in their argument due to their almost non-existent factual knowledge. The Court, however, also understands that to provide Applicants with the information that would allow them to be convinced of the need to seal would swallow the very issues that resulted in the closed hearing and sealing of records. That said, the statutory presumption against Title III materials is not as narrow as Applicants claim, especially under the instant factual scenario. There can be no dispute that the requested materials contain and pertain to sensitive wiretap information that implicates directly the very purpose of the Title III statutory scheme of nondisclosure. See
The unsealing and disclosure of Title III is governed by a comprehensive statutory scheme that establishes a presumption against disclosure. Title III prohibits all disclosures not authorized by statute.
All of the materials Applicants seek are Title III wiretap materials that *1044directly flow from orders granting Title III wiretap requests. Therefore, this Court cannot ignore the statutory language that protects the confidentiality of these materials. In attempting to determine whether such materials are subject to a First Amendment right of access, a Court must determine whether this type of information/proceeding has traditionally been conducted in an open fashion, and whether public access to the information/proceeding would serve to curb prosecutorial and/or judicial misconduct or would further the public's interest in understanding the criminal justice system. Oregonian Publ'g Co. v. U.S. Dist. Court for Dist. of Oregon ,
Here, following the reasoning set forth in N.Y. Times ,
Even if the qualified right did attach, the compelling interest of the DOJ to preserve the secrecy of law enforcement techniques in Title III wiretap cases overwhelms that qualified right. The materials at issue in this case concern techniques that, if disclosed publicly, would compromise law enforcement efforts in many, if not all, future wiretap investigations. In addition, in the instant case, the investigation is ongoing. See In re U.S. for an Order Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 2703(D) ,
Redaction of sensitive information is not a viable option here, as sensitive investigatory information is so thoroughly intertwined with the legal and factual arguments in the record such that redaction would leave little and/or misleading substantive information. In sum, the requested material is so entangled with investigatory secrets that effective redaction is not possible.
The Court also finds that the common law right of access does not attach to the materials requested. See Times Mirror Co. v. United States ,
The important policy reasons to preserve the secrecy of the Title III criminal investigation are present and remain intact in this case. The interests of the public are outweighed in favor of non-disclosure based on the relevant facts and circumstances here. After balancing these interests as required under United States v. Bus. of Custer Battlefield Museum & Store Located at Interstate 90, Exit 514, S. of Billings, Mont. ,
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- IN RE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE MOTION TO COMPEL FACEBOOK TO PROVIDE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IN SEALED CASE, Opinion Issued in or About September 2018
- Status
- Published