9th Circuit: Rule Requiring Sealing Medical Records In Court Case Is ‘Overbroad’

(September 6, 2024, 10:39 AM EDT) -- SAN FRANCISCO — A panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has reversed a lower court and held in a case regarding the First Amendment right to access medical and health records in a court proceeding that a mandatory requirement to seal medical and health records under state rules pertaining to court records is “constitutionally overbroad.”  Rather, the panel said, the least restrictive means of protecting that interest is to have Hawaii courts consider motions to seal medical and health records on a case-by-case basis....