Judge Cheryl Higgins brought her Black’s Law Dictionary to Albemarle County Circuit Court this afternoon. Higgins flipped to the definition of "proceeding" as she explained why an order to seal search warrants tied to the death of fourth-year UVA student Yeardley Love would itself remain sealed.
In short, the order to seal the search warrants falls under the definition of a legal proceeding. The writ of mandamus [in PDF here] filed on behalf of The Daily Progress, Washington Post and others was not the proper means to unsealing the order; rather, because the order constitutes a legal proceeding, media needed to file a motion to intervene.
In a letter last week, attorneys for George Huguely, the UVA student charged in Love’s death, said that they were not involved in actions pertaining to the sealing of the order.