Harrell v. Miller
- Alvin Hellerstein
- 1:21-cv-06714
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Harrell v. Miller, Judge Hellerstein ordered the habeas record sealed to protect the crime victim’s privacy.
The order limits public access to the transcripts and state-court record in Harrell’s federal challenge, while allowing Harrell and the respondent to access the sealed materials and leaving specified published decisions public.
What happened
Harrell is challenging his conviction in federal court. The state court record includes transcripts and other documents identifying a 15-year-old victim of sexual assault.
The state asked to keep those records from public view, while filing the answer, legal memorandum, and published appellate decisions publicly. Harrell’s lawyer did not object. The state said New York law protects sex-offense victims’ identities and that redacting more than 3,900 pages would not be practical.
Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein ordered the transcripts and state court record sealed, except for the published appellate decisions. The sealed materials were to remain available to the parties. The order addressed public access to records, not whether Harrell should win his challenge to his conviction.
The detailed version
- Harrell v. Miller · No. 1:21-cv-06714
- Alvin Hellerstein
- Dec. 2, 2021
Background
Harrell filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 challenging his state-court conviction. The respondent asked for permission to file the trial transcripts and state-court record under seal. The request did not seek to seal the answer to the petition, the legal memorandum, or the published decisions of the New York Appellate Division and New York Court of Appeals.
The state court judgment followed a jury trial and involved convictions for two counts of first-degree criminal sexual act, one count of attempted first-degree rape, two counts of first-degree sexual abuse, and two counts of third-degree criminal sexual act. The opinion states that the crime involved the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl. The state court record and transcripts identify the victim throughout and exceed 3,900 pages.
Sealing request
The respondent relied on New York Civil Rights Law § 50-b(1), which requires confidentiality for the identity of a sex-offense victim, and § 50-c, which can expose a public officer to civil liability for wrongful disclosure of protected records. The respondent also argued that the privacy interests of the victim and the federal interest in respecting state confidentiality rules outweighed the usual presumption that court documents should be publicly accessible.
The respondent further argued that New York’s disclosure process does not contemplate releasing redacted versions of confidential records and that redaction would not be practical in this record. Harrell’s counsel, Matthew Bova, stated that Harrell did not object to the sealing request.
Ruling
The court ordered the transcripts and state-court record sealed, except for the published decisions of the New York Appellate Division and the New York Court of Appeals. The sealed records were designated for access by selected parties, including Harrell and the respondent.
The order was an ancillary public-access ruling. It did not decide the merits of Harrell’s challenge to his conviction.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.