Stevenson v. Holland, et al.

Filing 84

ORDER DENYING Request to Seal; ORDERED that the Clerk of Court shall RETURN to Plaintiff the documents for which sealing has been denied, signed by District Judge Anthony W. Ishii on 11/13/2019. (Martin-Gill, S)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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DOUGLAS J. STEVENSON,

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Plaintiff,
ORDER DENYING REQUEST TO SEAL

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CASE NO. 1:16-CV-01831-AWI-JLT

v.
(Doc. No. 82)
K. HOLLAND et al.,

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Defendants.

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Plaintiff filed a “Notice of Request to Seal Documents” (hereinafter “Notice”), see Doc.

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No. 82, pursuant to Local Rule 141(b). In conjunction with filing the Notice, Plaintiff submitted

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with the Court a “Request to Seal Documents” (hereinafter “Request”) pursuant to Local Rule

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141(b). The Notice and Request ask the Court to seal several documents that Plaintiff wants to

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use in support of his opposition brief to Defendants’ summary judgment motion. In the Notice

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and Request, Plaintiff’s only stated basis for sealing the documents is that the documents are

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covered by a stipulated protective order in this lawsuit. See Doc. No. 48 (stipulated protective

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order).

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The Court will deny without prejudice Plaintiff’s Request. This is because Plaintiff failed

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to show that sealing the documents is warranted. All documents filed with the Court are

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presumptively public. San Jose Mercury News, Inc. v. U.S. Dist. Court, 187 F.3d 1096, 1103 (9th

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Cir. 1999). “[T]he courts of this country recognize a general right to inspect and copy public

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records and documents, including judicial records and documents.” Ctr. for Auto Safety v.

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Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1096 (9th Cir. 2016) (citations omitted). Accordingly, a party

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seeking to seal a judicial record bears the burden of overcoming the strong public access

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presumption. Id.

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Two standards generally govern requests to seal documents: the “compelling reasons”

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standard for documents directly related to the underlying causes of action, such as documents

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attached to summary judgment briefs, and the lesser “good cause” standard for documents only

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tangentially related to the underlying causes of action, such as some discovery documents:

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[J]udicial records attached to dispositive motions [are treated]
differently from records attached to non-dispositive motions.
Those who seek to maintain the secrecy of documents attached to
dispositive motions must meet the high threshold of showing that
“compelling reasons” support secrecy. A “good cause” showing
under Rule 26(c) will suffice to keep sealed records attached to
non-dispositive motions.

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Kamakana v. City & Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180 (9th Cir. 2006) (citations omitted);

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see also Ctr. for Auto Safety, LLC, 809 F.3d at 1098; Pintos, 605 F.3d at 677.

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As the Ninth Circuit has stated, a blanket protective order does not by itself demonstrate

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good cause, let alone compelling reasons, for sealing specific information and documents. See

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Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1183 (“Although the magistrate judge expressly approved and entered the

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protective order, the order contained no good cause findings as to specific documents that would

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justify reliance by the United States . . . .”); Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d

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1122, 1133 (9th Cir. 2003) (“[A] party seeking the protection of the court via a blanket protective

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order typically does not make the ‘good cause’ showing required by Rule 26(c) with respect to any

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particular document.”); San Jose Mercury News, Inc. v. U.S. Dist. Ct., N. Dist., 187 F.3d 1096,

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1103 (9th Cir. 1999); Beckman Indus., Inc. v. Int’l Ins. Co., 966 F.2d 470, 476 (9th Cir. 1992)

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(“Further, because the protective order was a stipulated blanket order, International never had to

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make a ‘good cause’ showing under Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(c) of the need for protection of the deposition

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transcripts in the first place. Nor does it allege specific prejudice or harm now. Broad allegations

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of harm, unsubstantiated by specific examples or articulated reasoning, do not satisfy the Rule

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26(c) test.”) (citations omitted); see also Jepson, Inc. v. Makita Elec. Works, Ltd., 30 F.3d 854,

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858 (7th Cir. 1994) (“Even if the parties agree that a protective order should be entered, they still

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have the burden of showing that good cause exists for issuance of that order. It is equally apparent

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that the obverse also is true, i.e., if good cause is not shown, the discovery materials in question

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should not receive judicial protection.”) (citations omitted).

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Plaintiff should have been tipped-off to the foregoing legal standard by the stipulated
protective order, wherein the Court told the parties that “this protective order does not assure that
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any of the materials protected [by the protective order] will be sealed by the Court in the event a

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party wishes to file them. Rather, [the parties] must comply with Local Rule 141 and meet the

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legal standard for sealing.” Doc. No. 48 at 7 (emphasis added). Local Rule 141(a) states that

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“[d]ocuments may be sealed only by written order of the Court, upon the showing required by

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applicable law.” L.R. 141(a) (emphasis added). Local Rule 141(b) states that the sealing request

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must “set forth the statutory or other authority for sealing, the requested duration, the identity, by

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name or category, of persons to be permitted access to the documents, and all other relevant

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information.”1 L.R. 141(b) (emphasis added).

ORDER

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Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED as follows:

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1. Plaintiff’s Request to Seal Documents is DENIED;

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2. Pursuant to Local Rule 141(e)(1), the Clerk of Court shall RETURN to Plaintiff the

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documents for which sealing has been denied.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: November 13, 2019
SENIOR DISTRICT JUDGE

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In the event that a party files a subsequent request to seal in this lawsuit, the party is advised that all of the sealing
procedures outlined in Local Rule 141 — which are specific and serve important judicial purposes — must be
followed with precision.

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