TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jul 25, 2025

The Daily Memphian filed a motion in federal court Wednesday to unseal records that have remained hidden since U.S. District Judge Mark Norris, who presided over the Tyre Nichols case from its inception, recused himself from multiple related cases. His order did not state the reason for his recusal, and he has not publicly addressed the matter or responded to inquiries about it, the news outlet reports. Since the recusal, nearly all new filings in the case have been submitted under seal. The paper is seeking to access to those documents “solely for the purpose of protecting the public’s common law and First Amendment right of access to criminal proceedings,” the motion states. The outlet’s initial attempt to intervene in the case was rejected by the court. On Wednesday afternoon, the clerk’s office opened a new case with the outlet’s filing. U.S. District Judge Sheryl Lipman discussed the motion Thursday, saying it is one of three issues she expects to rule on by mid-September. The judge also set sentencing hearings for the week of Dec. 15 for the five former Memphis police officers charged in Nichols' death, according to the Associated Press. The men originally were set to be sentenced in June, but the date was postponed after Norris' recusal.