From last week's decision by Judge Edmund Sargus (S.D. Ohio) in Pillar Title Agency v. Pei:
On June 4, 2014, Plaintiffs … filed this action alleging, among other things, defamation and libel after Pei made comments on two websites about his former attorney. After litigating this action for a little over a year, Plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their Amended Complaint.
On April 11, 2023, Pei, proceeding pro se, filed the pending Motion to Expunge this Case, which asks the Court to "expunge the record of Case 2014-CV-525 from the Court's docket and the public record, pursuant to the applicable rules and procedures." The Court construes this request as a motion to seal the entire case file….
The Sixth Circuit recognizes that "[t]he public has a strong interest in obtaining the information contained in the court record." This interest rests on several grounds, including the public's interest "in ascertaining what evidence and records the District Court and this Court have relied upon in reaching our decisions." By protecting the public's access to judicial records, courts "serve[s] to promote trustworthiness of the judicial process, to curb judicial abuses, and to provide the public with a more complete understanding of the judicial system, including a better perception of its fairness." Accordingly, courts apply a "'strong presumption in favor of openness' as to court records." The burden of overcoming the "strong presumption in favor of openness" of court records is a heavy one: "'Only the most compelling reasons can justify non-disclosure of judicial records.'" …
