United States Ninth Circuit

Dismissal of plaintiff's 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action alleging that the Ventura County Superior Court's failure to provide same-day access to newly filed unlimited civil complaints violated plaintiff's right of access to public judicial proceedings under the First Amendment, is reversed and remanded, where: 1) the district court erred by abstaining from hearing the case; 2) this case presented an important First Amendment question involving the right of access to public records and proceedings that should be decided by the federal courts; and 3) plaintiff's requested relief would not excessively intrude on sensitive state functions.

Appellate Information

• Decided 04/07/2014
• Published 04/07/2014

Judges

• WARDLAW

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel