concluding that decisions as to court record access are best left to the trial court’s discretion since that court can best evaluate whether one of the three established exceptions to the presumption of public access — (1) where disclosure may be used to gratify private spite or promote public scandal, (2) where disclosed records may serve as reservoirs of libelous statements for press consumption, or (3) where disclosure might reveal *486 trade secrets — creates a countervailing privacy right that supports sealing in light of the particular facts and circumstances of the ease
How later courts described this case
- concluding that decisions as to court record access are best left to the trial court’s discretion since that court can best evaluate whether one of the three established exceptions to the presumption of public access — (1) where disclosure may be used to gratify private spite or promote public scandal, (2) where disclosed records may serve as reservoirs of libelous statements for press consumption, or (3) where disclosure might reveal *486 trade secrets — creates a countervailing privacy right that supports sealing in light of the particular facts and circumstances of the ease
- stating that in Nixon, “the Court held that neither the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of the press nor the Sixth Amendment guarantee of a public trial supported the respondents’ claim to access to audiotapes, when the press enjoyed unrestricted access to all of the information in the public domain, including the tape transcripts. Webbe, 791 F.2d at 105, citing Nixon, 435 U.S. at 608-09, 98 S.Ct. at 1317-18.
- explaining that interests supporting access to judicial records include “the citizen’s desire to keep a watchful eye on the workings of public agencies” and “a newspaper publisher’s intention to publish information concerning the operation of government”
- explaining that the decision regard- ing access to judicial records is “one best left to the sound discretion of the trial court, a discretion to be exercised in light of the relevant facts and circumstances of the partic- ular case” (footnote omitted)
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
Mr. Justice Marshall,
dissenting.
As the court below found, respondents here are “seek[ing] to vindicate a precious common law right, one that predates the Constitution itself.” United States v. Mitchell, 179 U. S. App. D. C. 293, 301, 551 F. 2d 1252, 1260 (1976). The Court today recognizes this right and assumes that it is applicable *613 here. Ante, at 598-599, and n. 11. It also recognizes that the court with custody of the records must have substantial discretion in making the decision regarding access. Ante, at 599.
The Court nevertheless holds that, contrary to' the rulings below, respondents should be denied access to significant materials in which there is wide public interest. The Court finds “decisive” the existence of the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act. Ante, at 607. The Act, however, by its express terms covers only “original tape recordings,” § 101 (a), and it is undisputed that the tapes at issue here are copies, see ante, at 593-594, n. 3, 603-604, n. 15. Indeed, in a commendable display of candor, petitioner has conceded that the Act does not apply. Supplemental Brief for Petitioner 2.
Nothing in the Act’s history suggests that Congress intended the courts to defer to the Executive Branch with regard to these tapes. To the contrary, the Administrator of General Services had to defer to the District Court’s “expertise” in order to secure congressional approval of regulations promulgated under the Act. See post, at 616, and n. 5 (Stevens, J., dissenting). It is clear, moreover, that Congress intended the Act to ensure “the American people . . . full access to all facts about the Watergate affair.” S. Rep. No. 93-1181, p. 4 (1974).
Hence the Presidential Recordings Act, to the extent that it provides any assistance in deciding this case, strongly indicates that the tapes should be released to the public as directed by the Court of Appeals. While petitioner may well be “a legitimate class of one,” Nixon v. Administrator of General Services, 433 U. S. 425, 472 (1977), we are obligated to adhere to the historic role of the Judiciary on this matter that both sides concede should be ours to resolve. I dissent.