A letter that Denenea sent to Saints lawyer James Gulotta cited a local rule at New Orleans’ US district courthouse which reads: “In recognition of the right of the public to access material filed with the court, no document or other tangible item, or portion thereof, may be filed under seal without the filing of a separate motion and order to seal, unless authorized by a federal statute, federal rule, or prior court order in the same case expressly authorizing the party to file certain documents (or portions thereof) under seal.”.
He also cited a 2020 ruling from the federal fifth circuit court in New Orleans reading: “In this circuit, when a case is removed from state court to federal court, the federal court takes the case and it finds and treats the state court rulings as its own.”.
An attorney whose lawsuit discovered the existence of emails showing how top executives at the NFL’s Saints and NBA’s Pelicans tried to help New Orleans’ Roman Catholic archdiocese soften critical news coverage about the church’s management of a clergy-abuse scandal has challenged the sports teams’ assertions that the communications were protected by a court order.
New Orleans clergy abuse: Lawyer says claims that Saints emails protected by court order have no basis Saints attorney maintains disclosure of messages showing team execs’ aid in softening media coverage was ‘violation’.
At the new venue, Judge Susie Morgan granted permission to attorneys for the archdiocese to file seven evidentiary exhibits into the case record under seal, Denenea said and court documents showed.
