A federal judge blocked the Navy’s attempt to delay the release of court records related to the 2020 fire that destroyed the USS Bonhomme Richard.
SAN DIEGO (CN) – A federal judge in California on Thursday sided with the nonprofit news organization ProPublica, ordering the U.S. Navy to produce military court records related to a sailor who was charged but acquitted of starting a fire that destroyed a billion-dollar ship in 2020.
US District Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz ordered the Navy to produce the records by April 30 after a contentious dispute over disclosure of military criminal court proceedings.
The hearing came after Moskovitz gave ProPublica a big win in the years-long court case in February, when he ruled that the Navy must provide public access to court hearings and sailor records.
The Navy filed an emergency motion to block the judge’s decision, asking that the release of the files be suspended for 60 days pending an appeal.
Moskowitz, a Bill Clinton appointee, again ruled in favor of the nonprofit news organization, saying the Navy can continue to redact parts of the record it deems necessary, but denying its motion to stay his earlier decision.
“I would say this is a win,” ProPublica attorney Sarah Matthews said outside court.
Had Moskowitz ruled in favor of the Navy, the court case could have dragged on for a year or more before the records were released.
ProPublica argues that the military’s judicial records on the prosecution of its service members are shrouded in secrecy when they should be subject to public scrutiny.
“I think it’s extremely important in a democracy to know who is being prosecuted and why,” Matthews told Courthouse News. “We don’t have secret courts in this country. It’s so important for us to know that someone is even being prosecuted.”
ProPublica has asked court martial records about ex-Marine Ryan Mays after a fire that destroyed USS Bonhomme Richard in July 2020.
The Navy blamed Mays, then a 19-year-old who had recently dropped out of SEAL school. According to ProPublica, Navy prosecutors relied on eyewitness accounts of Mays aboard the ship the day the fire started.
Mays was charged with aggravated arson, but he was acquitted in September 2022.
ProPublica filed a lawsuit against the Navy shortly after his release in an effort to obtain more information about Mays’ preliminary court proceedings, also known as Article 32 hearings.
Matthews argued that Mays was a scapegoat in a military disaster that was the result of command and security failures. His pursuit was politically motivated and the public had no way to hold the government to account because the records were secret, she said.
“What would happen is someone would just disappear from their bodies and no one would know why,” Matthews said of the military’s First Amendment practices. “So how do we make sure the courts are fair and our service members are given a fair trial?”
Navy lawyers argued that much of the material in the Article 32 hearings is not in the public interest and contains thousands of pages of documents. Additionally, they objected to the release of records from the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
Navy lawyers also accused ProPublica of trying to gain more ground in the public records fight by determining which records should not be redacted.
“ProPublica continues to stretch its case and micromanage summary judgment,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Glover-Rogers told Moskowitz. “Enforcement should be left to the Navy.”
But Matthews said the public must have access to these court proceedings so they can hold the military accountable for possible mismanagement of court proceedings.
“We’re not asking the court to micromanage,” she said. “We’re asking that the Navy be held to the same First Amendment standard as any other criminal court.”
The fire aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard completely destroyed the ship, which was being repaired in San Diego.
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