Sealed court records are documents, or sometimes entire case files, that a judge has ordered withheld from public view. Courts start from the opposite presumption: proceedings and filings are open. To overcome that presumption, the party asking for secrecy must show a specific, serious harm that outweighs the public’s right of access, and the judge must spell out why sealing is necessary. Even when a seal is granted, it hides less than most people assume.
The Legal Standard a Court Applies
Two overlapping frameworks govern access. The First Amendment test, set out in Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court, allows the presumption of openness to be overcome only by an overriding interest, supported by specific factual findings, and narrowly tailored to serve that interest.1Legal Information Institute. Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court of California The common law right of access, recognized in Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc., is not absolute either; trial courts have broad discretion exercised “in light of the relevant facts and circumstances of the particular case.”2Legal Information Institute. Nixon v. Warner Communications Inc.
In practice, this means a judge in most courts has to make written factual findings before sealing anything. The order must identify the harm disclosure would cause, explain why no less drastic option like redaction would work, and define how broadly the seal applies. Wanting to avoid embarrassment, keep litigation strategy quiet, or simply preferring privacy does not meet the standard. This is where most sealing requests fail.
What Courts Typically Agree to Seal
Juvenile delinquency cases are sealed routinely so youthful mistakes do not follow a minor into adulthood. Victims of sexual assault or domestic violence often receive sealing protection to preserve their safety and anonymity, especially when a public record would expose an address to an abuser.
In civil litigation, businesses commonly seek to seal trade secrets, proprietary formulas, or internal financial data produced in discovery. A competitor watching a public docket can harvest that kind of material, and courts treat the risk as a legitimate basis for restricting access. National security information and certain law enforcement investigative materials also qualify when disclosure could compromise ongoing operations or endanger individuals.
Personal identifiers are handled separately and more mechanically. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2 requires automatic redaction of Social Security numbers, birth dates, minor children’s names, and financial account numbers in every filing, whether or not anyone asks.3Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 5.2 – Privacy Protection for Filings Made With the Court Most state courts follow similar rules. Redaction handles the most common identity-theft risks without a motion. Full sealing is reserved for situations where redaction cannot protect the interest at stake.
How to File a Motion to Seal
Start by identifying the exact case number and the specific document titles you want sealed. If you do not have that information, the court’s electronic docket or the clerk’s office can help you find it.4United States Courts. Find a Case (PACER) Small errors here cause outsized problems. An incorrect case number or misspelled party name can get a filing rejected before any judge sees it.
The core document is usually called a Motion to Seal or Petition for Sealing. Forms and local requirements come from the clerk’s office or the court’s website. The motion has to lay out, with specifics, why sealing is justified: the particular harm disclosure would cause, why that harm outweighs the public’s right of access, and why partial redaction is not enough. Vague assertions that something is “sensitive” will not survive review. Many courts also require a supporting declaration or affidavit establishing the facts behind the request.
Check local rules carefully before filing. Some courts require both a redacted public version and an unredacted sealed version of each document. Others require a proposed order for the judge to sign. Missing these procedural requirements is one of the fastest ways to have a motion returned. Fees vary; a motion filed inside an existing federal case often carries no separate fee, but some courts charge for specific filings.
Once the motion is filed, you serve formal notice on every other party in the case and file proof of service. The court generally schedules a hearing. While the judge is deciding, the documents usually sit under a temporary seal so the review process itself does not expose them. The judge issues a written order granting or denying the request, and a grant will specify which documents are covered, the factual findings supporting the decision, and any conditions or time limits. If the motion is denied, the documents become part of the public file. That outcome is worth weighing before you file: a denied motion can attract more attention to the material than silence would.
What Sealing Does Not Hide
Sealing does not erase the existence of a case. The public docket typically still shows the case number, the parties, and the filing dates. In federal court, when someone moves to seal a document, the motion itself appears on PACER even though the sealed document does not.5United States Courts. Accessing Court Documents – Journalist’s Guide Sealed documents themselves cannot be retrieved through PACER.6PACER. Can I Find Sealed Documents on PACER? Anyone watching a docket can see that something was sealed without being able to read what it says, and sometimes the sealing itself becomes the story.
Sealing also does not restrict access for everyone. Law enforcement agencies, immigration authorities, and certain government entities typically keep the ability to view sealed documents for official purposes. The parties and their attorneys retain access as well. A court in a later proceeding may order disclosure of previously sealed material if it is relevant to the new matter. The restriction runs against the general public, not the legal system itself.
Sealing orders also vary in scope. A judge might seal financial records but leave depositions public, or impose a seal that expires on a set date. Whatever you get depends on the specific findings in your order.
Background Checks Are the Hardest Gap
This is where sealed records cause the most real-world confusion. Even after a court seals a criminal record, private background screening companies may still have the information from before the seal was entered. The question is whether they can legally report it.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act limits what consumer reporting agencies include in background reports. The statute bars reporting civil suits, civil judgments, and arrest records older than seven years, along with most other adverse information past that cutoff, though criminal convictions have no time limit.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports The statute does not name sealed records specifically, but the Federal Trade Commission has said that including “criminal records that have been expunged or otherwise sealed” in a background report is an indicator that a screening company’s procedures may not meet the FCRA’s accuracy requirements.8Federal Trade Commission. What Employment Background Screening Companies Need to Know About the Fair Credit Reporting Act
The EEOC has acknowledged the same gap: even when a court restricts public access, private companies may not purge the information from their systems, and the event may remain in media archives.9U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions If a sealed record surfaces in a background check, you may have grounds to dispute the report under the FCRA’s accuracy provisions.
Sealing vs. Expungement
People routinely conflate these, and they produce different outcomes. Sealing places records behind a restricted-access barrier. The records still exist, legally and physically; they are just not available to the public. Expungement goes further and results in deletion or destruction of the record, treating the arrest or charge as if it had never happened.
The practical difference matters. With a sealed record, law enforcement and certain government agencies can still see it. With an expunged record, the goal is complete removal from the system, though private databases and media archives may still carry information that predates the order. In roughly two-thirds of states that allow sealing or expungement of arrest records, the person whose record was cleared may legally deny its existence on employment applications and similar forms.9U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Whether that applies to you depends on your jurisdiction and which remedy you obtained.
Unsealing a Record
Sealed records do not stay sealed automatically forever. Anyone with a legitimate interest can ask a court to unseal them, and courts keep ongoing jurisdiction to revisit their own orders. The most common path involves a journalist, researcher, or other third party moving to intervene in the case to challenge the seal.
In federal court, intervention runs through Rule 24 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The motion must state the grounds for intervening and be served on all existing parties.10Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 24 – Intervention The court weighs whether the intervenor has a sufficient interest in the sealed material and whether intervention would unduly delay or prejudice the original parties. Media organizations use this route in high-profile cases.
Unsealing can also happen when circumstances change. If the original justification no longer applies, such as when a criminal investigation ends, a trade secret becomes public through other means, or a minor reaches adulthood, the court may unseal records on its own or on motion. Some sealing orders carry built-in expiration dates. The evaluation mirrors the original standard: does the interest in continued secrecy still outweigh the public’s right of access.
Consequences of Violating a Sealing Order
A sealing order is a court order. Violating one carries the same risk as disobeying any other judicial directive: federal courts have the power to punish contempt by fine, imprisonment, or both.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 401 – Power of Court
Contempt comes in two forms. Civil contempt requires proof that the person knew about the sealing order and knowingly violated it, with sanctions typically continuing until the person complies. Criminal contempt carries a higher bar: the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the order was definite and clear and that the violation was willful. Penalties can be substantial. In one case, a newspaper initially faced more than $600,000 in combined contempt fines for publishing information from a sealed settlement, though the appellate court reversed those findings because the sealing order itself had not followed proper procedural requirements.
That reversal points to a real defense. If the court failed to provide public notice of the motion to seal, did not give interested parties a chance to object, or did not make the required factual findings, the underlying order may be vulnerable to challenge, and a contempt finding built on it can fall with it. This is not a reason to gamble on a sealing order being defective. It is a reason, if you are facing contempt proceedings over an alleged violation, to look closely at how the original order was entered.