Footnote is only portion of 4th Circuit opinion that isn't sealed
A federal appeals court opinion issued on Monday doesn’t provide much of a clue about the subject matter.
The decision by the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was filed under seal, except for footnote 10, How Appealing reports. The court also mentions footnote 11, though it isn’t reproduced in full. The case is United States v. John Adams.
Footnote 10—expressing some surprise that the government didn’t confess plain error on appeal–prompted two concurring opinions, one of which was partially redacted. One concurrence disagreed with the footnote’s suggestion that the government should not have pursued the appeal, while the other concurrence defended the footnote.
The court explained in its sealing order that nearly all the record in the case is sealed, including a portion of the public docket, “substantial aspects of the appellate briefs” and oral arguments. “As specified in footnote 11 of the court’s opinion, the district court should, on remand, consider alternatives [to] sealing the [entirety of the] record’ and carefully ‘weigh the competing interests at stake,’ ” Judge Robert King wrote in the order.
