# *Eddie Tardy v. Corrections Corporation of America, nka CoreCivic, et al.*

The Cato Institute joined an amicus brief alongside the Free Law Project, the First Amendment Coalition, and UCLA Professor Eugene Volokh in support of Tardy.

September 1, 2023 • Legal Briefs 

By Eugene Volokh and [Anastasia Boden](https://www.cato.org/people/anastasia-boden) 

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Learn more about [Cato’s Amicus Briefs Program](/about/cato-amicus-program).

Do members of the public have standing to sue to unseal judicial records? The Supreme Court has long held that the public has a right to view government documents based solely on their desire to “keep a watchful eye on the workings of public agencies” or to publish information about government processes. But in January 2023, a three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit decided that a litigant has no standing to sue to unseal court documents unless he or she claims some personal “adverse effect.”

The case is based on the Constitution’s “case or controversy” requirement, which the Supreme Court has interpreted as requiring litigants in Article III courts to have suffered a concrete and particularized injury before bringing a lawsuit. In its decision, the Sixth Circuit held that Eddie Tardy failed to meet this requirement because “the mere denial of information” did not cause Tardy any personalized adverse effects.

The Cato Institute joined an amicus brief alongside the Free Law Project, the First Amendment Coalition, and UCLA Professor Eugene Volokh in support of Tardy. In the brief, we point out that the Sixth Circuit’s decision casts doubt on the long-established right of Americans to seek access to government documents, including judicial records or anything accessible via the Freedom of Information Act, based on nothing more than their interest in public records. While it is true that Tardy said he had not suffered any financial damages, he did suffer an injury in that he was unable to review or disseminate information buried in these documents. If courts no longer consider that an injury, it will jeopardize the ability of scholars, journalists, and ordinary citizens to engage in meaningful oversight and undermine public confidence in government. We therefore urge the Court to hear the case.

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##### *Eddie Tardy v. Corrections Corporation of America, nka CoreCivic, et al.* 

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##### About the Authors 

![e-volokh-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-09/e-volokh-cropped.jpg?itok=uCS_hUw0) 

##### Eugene Volokh 

Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law, UCLA

[![Headshot of Anastasia P. Boden](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2023-01/img-profile-photo_anastasia-boden.jpg?itok=fgcsXMf7)](/people/anastasia-boden) 

##### [Anastasia Boden](/people/anastasia-boden)

Constitutional Scholarship Director and Senior Legal Analyst, Pacific Legal Foundation

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This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

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