IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 96-10726
Summary Calendar
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff,
and
DALLAS MORNING NEWS, INC.,
Intervenor-Appellant,
versus
JOSEPH EDWARD CHAVIS, JR.,
Defendant-Appellee.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Texas
USDC No. 3:96-CR-015-P
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March 20, 1997
Before JONES, DeMOSS, and PARKER, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Joseph Edward Chavis, Jr. was convicted for robbing a
federally insured bank. The district court originally sealed
Chavis’s combined motion for downward departure based upon
“aberrant behavior” and sentencing memorandum with exhibits. The
district court subsequently entered its order unsealing a
*
Pursuant to Local Rule 47.5, the court has determined
that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent
except under the limited circumstances set forth in Local Rule
47.5.4.
No. 96-10726
-2-
redacted version of Chavis’s motion. The Dallas Morning News,
Inc. (the News) appeals this action.
“In exercising its discretion to seal judicial records, the
court must balance the public’s common law right of access
against the interest favoring nondisclosure.” Securities &
Exchange Commission v. Van Waeyenberghe, 990 F.2d 845, 848 (5th
Cir. 1993). The district court considered the factors weighing
in favor of nondisclosure and noted that the case presented no
peculiar circumstances which would compel disclosure. The
district court’s order is not general in nature, but is very
specific to particular information, in one particular document,
in this defendant’s sentencing proceeding. The News has not
shown that the district court abused its discretion in redacting
certain portions of Chavis’s sentencing memorandum.
The News invites this court to dispense with the abuse of
discretion standard for releasing judicial documents enunciated
in Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 598-99
(1978). To accept such an invitation would require that Nixon be
overruled, which is beyond the power of this court.
AFFIRMED.