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By Matthew Russell Lee, Scoop Patreon, thread

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Sept 5 – While many even most cases in the Magistrates Court of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York are sealed or have case numbers given only later, on September 5 Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn ordered remanded a defendant whose complaint, even three hours later, was still listed as sealed. But in the Magistrates Court, where Inner City Press was the only media, Judge Netburn pointed out that while the prosecutor mentioned fentanyl it was not listed in the Complaint. Still, Judge Netburn said, Alvarez had a long rap sheet. He was described jumping out a third story window. His lawyer offered as bond signers a sister who works for Bank of America. Before the proceeding began he asked, Has the case been wheeled out? To who? Judge Cote? Oh terrific (this last sounded sarcastic). Now Alvarez, sans sweater, will be before Judge Cote on September 10. Watch this site.

  Back on August 30 Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker was reading out the bond conditions for a defendant called Soto when suddenly the government and Federal Defender Christopher Flood asked for a whispered sidebar.

  There was no court reporter, and Inner City Press the only media in the Mag court could not hear. Suddenly the bail deal was off, and the bond proceeding continued until September 5 in front of Judge Parker. Soto is charged with selling guns, and said he planned to work for Amazon while he said being already employed as a teachers aid. Was this what the whispering was about? Murky mag court indeed.

  Even in the Mag court, case law requires that there be one the record findings about the need to defeat the presumption of press and public access to all facets of such proceedings. Inner City Press will have more on this.

  Earlier in the week affable Judge Parker instructed a defendant named Mr. Patterson who was being released to stay away from the Gun Hill Road area in The Bronx.

The scope of that neighborhood was not defined; his assigned CJA lawyer as we've noted before is at the same time representing the government in a criminal contempt case. Inner City Press will have more on this.

Inner City Press will continue to cover this and other SDNY and 2nd Circuit cases - watch this site, and there is more on Patreon, here.