A Manhattan-based federal appeals court sided with the Hartford Courant this week in ruling that Connecticut courts could not automatically seal the judicial records of juveniles whose cases were transferred to the regular criminal docket.

The Feb. 1 ruling, from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, upheld a lower court’s order that barred the state from enforcing a 2019 law meant to protect the privacy of young people accused of felonies and other offenses.