“People in an open society do not demand infallibility from their institutions, but it is difficult for them to accept what they are prohibited from observing.”
—Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia, 448 U.S. 555, 572 (1980)
In 1980 the U.S. Supreme Court held that the First Amendment implicitly conveys an affirmative, enforceable right of public access to certain government proceedings and information. MFIA regularly litigates for clients seeking to enforce their First Amendment access rights and pursues impact litigation to establish the full scope of this right beyond access to judicial proceedings and records.
Our current cases include:
Muhammad Husain v. Gates, 08-cv-01360 (D.D.C.)
MFIA represents ProPublica journalist Raymond Bonner in his efforts to assert a constitutional right of access to sealed records in the habeas proceeding brought by the Guantanamo detainee known as Abu Zubaydah.
For a list of previous matters, please see the MFIA Archive.