The Supreme Court on Jan. 21 refused to hear a case on whether federal judges have the authority to disclose secret grand jury material in extraordinary circumstances.
In the case at hand, McKeever is seeking grand jury information as part of his investigation for his book on the topic. He filed a motion in 2013 asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which had convened and supervised the relevant grand jury 60 years ago, to release the information.
Along with public interest, he argued that the long passage of time had also eliminated any need for continued secrecy.
Under the Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure, grand jury information is to be kept secret unless in specific situations outlined in Rule 6(e) of the law. Over the years, different circuit courts have had different opinions on whether judges have inherent authority to release the information.
The District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against McKeever, saying that judges don’t have authority outside of the exceptions provided in Rule 6(e).
“Whether district courts retain authority to release grand jury material outside those situations specifically enumerated in the Rules, or in situations like this, is an important question,” Breyer said. “It is one I think the Rules Committee both can and should revisit.”