The Fourth Circuit in In re U.S. explained that cases subsequent to Rushford have not applied a “heavily outweigh” standard, and accordingly, “to overcome the common law presumption of access, the government’s interests must merely outweigh the public’s interest.” In re U.S., 707 F.3d at 293 n.12.
For example, “[i]n the appropriate case, the interest in preserving the confidentiality of sensitive business information can override the public’s First Amendment right of access.” Natera, Inc. v. NeoGenomics Lab’ys, Inc., No. 1:23-CV-629, 2024 WL 1464744, at *2 (M.D.N.C. Apr. 4, 2024) (cleaned up) (citation omitted).
Further, Altria’s Vice President, Enterprise, Strategy, Planning and New Ventures, Brian F. Blaylock, attested in a declaration that the amendment, like the original agreement, “contains sensitive commercial and financial information.” (See Doc. 619-1 at 1, 2.)
The public does, of course, have an interest in these documents, to some extent, because the Rule 60(b) motion and subsequent arguments by the parties revolve in large part around the content of these two agreements.
Finally, as discussed above, Altria proposes redactions, from the Rule 60(b) briefing and hearing transcript, of information related to its original 2018 licensing agreement with JUUL, (Doc. 110-2).