Grand Jury Secrecy Law Upheld, May Be Applied to Prevent Witness from Disclosing Certain Information

In Henry v. Attorney General, the Eleventh Circuit clarified the scope and upheld the constitutionality of Alabama’s grand jury secrecy law. The case raised two issues: (1) whether Alabama’s grand jury secrecy law could “reasonably be read to prohibit a grand jury witness from divulging information he learned before he testified to the grand jury,” and (2) whether the law’s “prohibition on a witness’s disclosure of grand jury information that he learned only by virtue of being made a witness” violates the Free Speech Clause.

Caroline F. Leak, Henry v. Attorney General, 4 Cumb. L. Rev. Online 115 (2023).