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Court Accountability Advocate Files Motion in Abrego Garcia Case To Ensure Public Access to Hearings
For Immediate Release
May 12, 2025
Contact: Nicole Funaro, Public Justice nfunaro@publicjustice.net | 203-435-1722
Gabe Roth, Fix the Court gabe@fixthecourt.com | 202-780-4990
Greenbelt, MD – Fix the Court has filed a motion to intervene in Abrego Garcia v. Noem to ensure the public has remote access to hearings in this important case. Fix the Court is a 501(c)3 organization that advocates for nonpartisan changes to make federal courts more open and accountable to the public. It is represented in this motion by Public Justice, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization that has worked to make sure courts are not used to hide evidence of wrongdoing, together with Correia & Puth. In its motion, Fix the Court is asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland to ensure the public can access all upcoming hearings through remote means such as video or audio livestream or a telephone call-in line.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia is the man the Trump administration illegally sent to El Salvador because of an “administrative error.” Mr. Abrego Garcia had been living and working in Maryland under lawful “withholding of removal” status until March 12, when he was abducted by ICE agents and ultimately sent to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in El Salvador. The facts of this case are well known to the public, but the court proceedings are not.
“Federal courts face neither legal nor technological barriers to livestreaming the majority of their hearings: the technology has existed for more than 30 years, and every court recently offered remote public access during the pandemic,” said Gabe Roth, Executive Director of Fix the Court. “Such access should be granted by rote but all the more so in one like Abrego Garcia that’s become a vanguard for a national conversation about the scope of presidential power.”
“The public’s confidence in our nation’s courts is at an all-time low, and that trust is eroded further when this administration makes public statements about the case that contradict what it tells the court,” said Jackie Aranda Osorno, the Richard Zitrin Anti-Court Secrecy Senior Attorney at Public Justice. “This court has a chance to build public trust by opening the courtroom so people can exercise their First Amendment right to observe these proceedings.”
Federal district courts around the country have taken into account heightened public interest in litigation challenging the Trump administration’s policies and have exercised their discretion to allow audio-visual broadcasting. The District of Maryland also has this discretion, but the Clerk of the Court has indicated there is no plan for a public access line to be available for hearings. The only way to keep up with Abrego Garcia v. Noem is to attend the proceedings in-person or find out days later through traditional and social media. The full motion can be found here.
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Fix the Court is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN: 86-1840317) that advocates for non-ideological fixes that would make the federal courts, and primarily the U.S. Supreme Court, more open and more accountable to the American people. You can read more on the fixes—greater media and public access, Supreme Court term limits, new and robust ethics rules, stronger recusal rules, comprehensive online disclosures, and public appearance notifications—here.
Public Justice takes on the biggest systemic threats to justice of our time—abusive corporate power and predatory practices, the assault on civil rights and liberties, and the destruction of the earth’s sustainability. We connect high-impact litigation with strategic communications and the strength of our partnerships to fight these abusive and discriminatory systems and win social and economic justice. For more information, visit www.publicjustice.net.