HARTFORD — A Connecticut newspaper sued state officials Wednesday, seeking to overturn a new juvenile offender law that would bar the public from certain court cases including the possible retrial of Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel for a 1975 killing.

The Hartford Courant filed the First Amendment lawsuit in federal court and was joined in the legal action by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

The law, which took effect Oct. 1, mandates the sealing of court records of juveniles 15, 16 and 17 years old when they are arrested for murder and other serious felonies. The records only would be unsealed if they are convicted.

Under the previous law, serious juvenile cases were unsealed when they were transferred to adult court, as Skakel's was, allowing public access to court proceedings.

The Courant argues the new law violates the speech and open government rights of the press and public.

“In the event Skakel is retried,” the paper's publisher and editor-in-chief, Andrew Julien, said in a statement to the court, “The Hartford Courant and other members of the press and public will be barred from attending any criminal proceeding in his case and from accessing any of the associated judicial records or docket information, permitting a 59-year-old public figure to be tried in complete secrecy in connection with a murder that has captured national attention for more than 40 years.”

Skakel, a nephew of Robert F. Kennedy's widow, Ethel Kennedy, was convicted in 2002 in the bludgeoning death of Martha Moxley in their wealthy Greenwich neighborhood when they were both 15 years old in 1975. He served more than 11 years in prison before a judge overturned his conviction in 2013, citing mistakes by his trial lawyer. He was freed on $1.2 million bail.

The state Supreme Court reinstated the murder conviction in 2016, but later reversed itself and overturned the conviction. The U.S. Supreme Court in January declined to hear an appeal by state prosecutors, who have not yet decided whether to retry Skakel.

Skakel's case was sealed when the new law took effect, because he was a juvenile when Moxley was killed.

Juvenile justice advocates had urged state lawmakers to approve the law, saying troubled teenagers need to be protected while their cases are in court.