‘Irreparable First Amendment harm’: RJ seeks hidden records in Reba the bulldog case

The Las Vegas Review-Journal has filed a motion seeking copies of court records that are currently secret for one of the defendants accused of causing the high-profile death of a bulldog.

The filing follows an unusual degree of secrecy in the case, including a hearing in which a judge removed the public from his courtroom and a plea agreement that experts have said a judge improperly sealed.

“We hope it’s clear that court records and proceedings cannot ever be sealed without going through the constitutionally mandated procedures and findings so that everyone’s right to know what our courts are doing is protected,” said Review-Journal Chief Legal Officer Benjamin Lipman.

Markeisha Foster, 30, and Isaac Laushaul Jr., 32, were indicted in December, each on a count of cruelty to animals. Authorities accused them of leaving pet bulldog Nike, who was later renamed Reba, in a plastic tote that was sealed shut and abandoned outside a Las Vegas supermarket. The dog was discovered in breathing distress and died of heatstroke.

The case has drawn attention from animal rights activists and been closely followed by the local media. It also led to “Reba’s law,” which was recently signed by Gov. Joe Lombardo and aims to stiffen penalties for animal cruelty.

Foster pleaded guilty to a count of attempt to kill, disfigure or maim an animal of another on June 5 before District Judge Susan Johnson. Her plea came a day after District Judge Ronald Israel ejected the public from his courtroom and tried to hold a secret hearing. Court minutes indicate the plea agreement was ordered to be “filed under seal.”

The news organization’s motion seeks to have the plea agreement and accompanying amended indictment unsealed. It also asks for the court to refrain from closing future records and proceedings to public view without following the proper steps.

Lipman said the filing addresses a constitutional issue.

“Because access to the courts is a constitutional liberty, very exacting procedures and showings must be made any time somebody wants to take away that right,” he said.

Those steps include providing notice to the public, hearing a motion for closure in public, ensuring secrecy is narrowly tailored and a judge making written findings about why it is so necessary to seal a document or hearing that doing so overcomes the constitutional right of court access.

But in Foster’s case, Lipman said, “The court abandoned all of the protections that the process is intended to provide all of us and simply sealed portions of this case without going through the procedures and without making the findings that would be necessary to seal court records and hearings.”

The motion argued that the denial of access “is causing ongoing, irreparable First Amendment harm” and that the documents must be released immediately because the constitutional steps were not followed.

“The public needs access to the plea agreement and the amended indictment to determine whether the government’s investigation and prosecution of Defendant Foster was adequate,” the filing said.

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.