In a 2-1 decision, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the Delaware Court of Chancery’s confidential arbitration program violates the First Amendment right to access civil trials. The appellate court’s decision effectively ends the program that was shut down last year by a U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania decision.
Judges Dolores K. Sloviter and Julio M. Fuentes held that public access plays such an important role in the proceedings that they need to be open.
