Federal judge: Mine hearings to remain closed to public, press

A federal judge has rejected a request by various media groups to stop a series of closed hearings regarding the Crandall Canyon Mine disaster.

In a nine-page ruling issued Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Dee Benson said there is currently nothing in the U.S. Constitution that would justify opening the hearings, which deal with looking into the disaster which claimed the lives of nine miners.

"Because this court can find nothing in the Constitution or in the statutes of the United States to support Plaintiffs' position, the current MSHA proceeding may proceed without interference from this court," Benson stated, adding the ability to open the hearings to the public lies in the hands of Congress, who can pass a law ordering the hearings opened.

"Obviously we're disappointed," said attorney Michael O'Brien, who represented The Deseret Morning News, Salt Lake Tribune, Associated Press, CNN and the Utah Media Coalition. "But then again, if you never asked to be let in, then you're guaranteed to be left out."

The media outlets filed suit in federal court last week, seeking to stop the closed hearings, arguing that reporters and members of the public have a right to know what is happening in proceedings undertaken by a group called the "MSHA panel." The panel has been examining the two mine collapses and taking sworn testimony from people in formal, quasi-judicial settings that have been kept secret.

Attorneys for the media organizations argue there have been reports that the Mine Safety and Health Administration bears some responsibility for the accident and perhaps engaged in "inappropriate activity" afterward. For that reason, the public has a right to know about the disaster and what the panel is doing.

Federal attorneys have argued that the panel is conducting a law enforcement investigation and its hearings are therefore closed to the public.

O'Brien said there is the option to appeal Benson's decision to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

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