Doe v. Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

These opposing petitions for writs of mandamus challenge a trial court order allowing the release, to the press and to the public, of redacted versions of 1,247 “ineligible volunteer” files belonging to defendant Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Those files contain information regarding child sexual abuse complaints against BSA volunteers from 1965 to 1985. The trial court had admitted the files, and BSA’s actions in response to those complaints, into evidence, in the jury trial of the matter below. To decide these mandamus petitions, we must examine the contours of the “open courts” clause of…