United States Eleventh Circuit

In a case involving allegations that defendant Colombian subsidiary hired paramilitaries to kill and torture union members at a Colombian coal mine, the court entered criminal contempt sanctions against lawyers for filing papers in open court, which have since been sealed following news reports about their contents. The contempt sanctions are vacated as the filings were not clearly prohibited by the protective order, and the orders that sealed the filings are reversed as unsupported by good cause.

Appellate Information

• Decided 03/14/2007
• Published 03/14/2007

Judges

• PRYOR, Circuit Judge:, Before CARNES, PRYOR and FARRIS, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Eleventh Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Barry A. Ragsdale, Ivey & Ragsdale, Birmingham, AL, for Jackson., Leo P. Cunningham, Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, Pala Alto, CA, for Appellants., Lisa A. Davis, Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rasati, Palo Alto, CA, for Interested-Parties-Appellants.


• For Appellees:
  
• Paul F. Enzinna, William H. Jeffress, Jr., Baker Botts, LLP, Washington, DC, Philip G. Piggott, W. Stancil Starnes, William Anthony Davis, III, Starnes & Atchison, LLP, Birmingham, AL, for Defendants-Appellees.