Chicago Tribune and other media sue to gain access to closed Mychal Bell proceedings in Jena case

On Tuesday, the Chicago Tribune will announce a motion that they have filed in LaSalle Parish District court contesting the decisions by Judge J.P. Mauffray to close the proceedings in Mychal Bell's juvenile case and order all the parties involved not to speak about it.

According to Tuesday's story by Howard Witt, The Chicago Tribune is the lead plaintiff in the petition, which has been joined by the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times Co., the Associated Press, the Hearst Corp., the Belo Corp.(Dallas Morning News/Channel 8), the Gannett Corp., CNN and ABC News.

The article goes on to state that the motion filed cites, among other arguments, a 2004 Louisiana Supreme Court ruling that all juvenile proceedings involving certain categories of violent crime—including aggravated second-degree battery—must be conducted in open court.

"The underlying facts of this case have been published, broadcast, editorialized about, blogged and talked about throughout the country and across the globe," the petition states. "There is simply no reason to refuse to allow the trial participants to comment as well."

Read Mr. Witt's entire coverage of the filed motion here.