UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
GENERAL ORDER REGARDING FILING OF
STATEMENT OF REASONS FOR IMPOSING SENTENCE
IN THE RECORD UNDER SEAL
On July 12, 2017, the en banc court approved a recommendation to rescind the attached
general order, dated September 13, 2001, prohibiting the filing into the record of the Statement of
Reasons for imposing sentence and to file the Statement of Reasons into the court record under
seal through the CM/ECF electronic filing system. A procedure for filing the Statement of Reasons
for imposing sentence and distributing it electronically through the court’s CM/ECF electronic
filing system has been developed and tested, and the procedure is now ready for implementation.
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that, effective May 1, 2018, the Statement of Reasons for imposing
sentence issued by judicial officers shall be filed in the court record under seal. The Clerk of Court
shall be responsible for maintenance and distribution of the Statement of Reasons for sentencing
via the Court’s electronic CM/ECF system or any successor database and filing system. Unless
otherwise ordered by the sentencing court, distribution of the Statement of Reasons through the
CM/ECF system shall be limited to defense attorney(s) who represent the defendant who was
sentenced, government attorney(s,) Financial Litigation Units of the United States Attorneys’
offices, U.S. Probation Offices, the United States Sentencing Commission and, if a term of
imprisonment is imposed, the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
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The General Order dated September 13, 2001, in which the Chief Judge ordered that the
Statement of Reasons not be filed or placed in the court record, is hereby RESCINDED AND
SUPERSEDED by this general order.
New Orleans, Louisiana, this 30th day of April 2018.
_______________________________________
KURT D. ENGELHARDT
CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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RESCINDED BY ORDER OF THE COURT 4/30/2018
