Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Care and Protection of Adele
April 23, 2025
Summary
The court held that an interested nonparty seeking access to statutorily impounded care and protection records must satisfy the good-cause standard, evaluated by balancing the relevant privacy, public-interest, constitutional, and other factors. The lower court erred by evaluating the journalist's requests collectively rather than considering the narrowed request for the February 2019 recordings separately. The court vacated the denial and ordered release of those recordings for the documentary, subject to specified redactions and use restrictions.