Tug-of-war over monkeys was moved to ‘secret docket’
A lawsuit over the delivery of monkeys meant for COVID-19 research was removed from the public record.
It was supposed to be a special delivery from Africa to South Florida. The shipment consisted of “confidential cargo,” suggesting a very special delivery, maybe gold or guns or some other exotic thing. The shipper, a company called International Logistics Support, found an air carrier willing to take on the task.
And then, two days before the planned departure in July, the deal unraveled. What to do? What companies usually do: Sue. However, the material was so “confidential” that a Miami-Dade judge agreed that the legal dispute must be kept under seal. That’s how International Logistics Support, LLC v Skybus Jet Cargo PTY LTD and Skybus Jet Cargo, Inc. wound up on the “secret docket,” a place where highly sensitive matters are arbitrated away from the eyes of the public.
Now, the veil of secrecy has been lifted: The “confidential cargo” was monkeys. Possibly quite a large group of them.
According to animal-rights advocates, the shipment was ticketed for Florida labs doing research on a COVID-19 vaccine. They got wind of the pending flight and pressured the air carrier, Skybus Jet Cargo, to back out of the deal, which it promptly did.
That generated a battle over the logistics company’s half-million-dollar deposit. A companion case was filed in California.
It’s a little known fact. Florida, including Miami-Dade, is home to multiple operations in which monkeys are used as lab subjects. Public awareness
increased when monkeys escaped the labs amid the damage from Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and were spotted all over town. Experimenting on monkeys is a practice that animalrights activists find unethical and repugnant. So the labs maintain a low profile.
The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred demand for the lab monkeys.
The Miami Herald reached out to multiple companies that supply monkeys directly to labs but none would acknowledge being the conduit for such a shipment.
Perhaps for the above reasons, the logistics company thought it best that the monkey matter be kept under seal.
By green-lighting the seal — although word got out anyway — Circuit
Judge Beatrice Butchko managed to raise the hackles of both First Amendment watchdogs and animal-rights activists.
During a hearing on Tuesday conducted virtually, she abruptly reversed herself and said the court file should be open to all.
The judge’s reversal might not have occurred without the efforts of Michael Barfield, a paralegal and First Amendment advocate. Upon learning that the Miami-Dade case was placed on a secret docket, Barfield filed a motion to get the records released.
“There appears to be innocent nonhuman primates, but that’s not a valid factual or legal basis for confidentiality,” he said at Tuesday’s hearing.
When the logistics company asked the court for the case to be sealed, the filing argued that it was necessary “in order to avoid substantial injury to innocent third parties.”
Which “innocent third parties”? Their paperwork cites “specifically the minor children, in this matter.”
But there are no children, at least not any human children.
The judge, however, said at Tuesday’s hearing that the confusion over children was a misunderstanding, nothing nefarious but simply a case of a “scrivener’s error,” meaning a typo.
Instead, the judge said, the “principal reason why” she sealed the records was so that the logistics company could seize an aircraft from Miami International Airport before Skybus could move it.
The plane has since been seized, meaning the reason for sealing the file was now moot.
She acknowledged procedural errors, but stood by her original decision. Speaking directly to Barfield during the Tuesday hearing, she said, “I apologize as a member of the court and Bar to you as a citizen and to the citizens of this community for failing to follow the rules appropriately and to allow access where appropriate.”
An attempt was made to seal the California court case as well, but a judge there rejected it. The Herald was able to review that file.
In the California suit, the logistics company says Skybus backed out because “certain political activist organizations” had gotten involved, creating “a campaign of harassment and intimidation.”
That’s apparently a reference to animal-rights advocates, although they would likely reject the characterization of their actions as “harassment and intimidation.”
One matter that was not discussed Tuesday is what happened to the monkeys.
According to a transcript reviewed by the Herald from the Sept. 6 informal hearing, International Logistics Support spent $700,000 to have them flown in by another carrier.
Barfield thinks the case has larger implications, demonstrating that “even experienced jurists and attorneys are not familiar with the rules about sealing court files.”
He hopes the records will be made available to the public this week.