State v. LaBounty

Before us on appeal are requests by intervenor

Caledonian-Record Publishing Co., Inc., a newspaper publisher, for access to presentence investigation reports (PSIs) prepared in connection with two separate criminal proceedings. In both eases, the trial courts denied access on the ground that confidentiality of PSIs is protected by statute. See 28 V.S.A. § 204(d). We are thus required to resolve the question we left open in State v. Densmore, 160 Vt. 131, 624 A.2d 1138 (1993): whether the qualified First Amendment right of access that attaches to documents submitted by parties in sentencing…