Guru Ram Das Academy Inc. v. John Kerry

Filing 29

DEFENDANTS' UNOPPOSED REQUEST TO SEAL THE CERTIFIED ADMINISTRATIVE RECORD; ORDER SEALING DOCUMENT, and ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE, signed by District Judge Anthony W. Ishii on 7/13/2017. (Kusamura, W)

1 CHAD A. READLER
Acting Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division
2 WILLIAM C. PEACHEY
3 Director, District Court Section, Office of Immigration Litigation
JEFFREY S. ROBINS
4 Assistant Director, District Court Section, Office of Immigration Litigation
AARON S. GOLDSMITH
5 Senior Litigation Counsel
District Court Section, Office of Immigration Litigation
6 U.S. Department of Justice
7 P.O. Box 868, Ben Franklin Station
Washington, D.C. 20044
8 Telephone: [phone]
[e-mail]
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AUDREY BENISON HEMESATH
10 Assistant United States Attorney
11 U.S. Attorney’s Office
501 I Street, Suite 10-100
12 Sacramento, CA 95814
Telephone: [phone]
13 [e-mail]
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Attorneys for Defendants

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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17 GURU RAM DAS ACADEMY, INC.
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Plaintiff,
v.

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1:16-cv-01906-AWI-SAB
DEFENDANTS’ UNOPPOSED REQUEST TO
SEAL THE CERTIFIED ADMINISTRATIVE
RECORD; ORDER SEALING DOCUMENT, and
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE

REX TILLERSON, Secretary of State
21 U.S. Department of State, et al.,

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Defendants.
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This action is under the Administrative Procedure Act (the “APA”). Pursuant to Local Rule 141,

25 the United States hereby requests sealing of the following:
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1) The Certified Administrative Record (“CAR”)

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The CAR contains sensitive, personal financial information relating to the Plaintiff and personal

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1 information regarding third parties. To respect the privacy of the Plaintiff and the third parties, the
2 Government submits the CAR in advance of the parties’ briefing on this action. Kamakana v. City and
3 County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1179 (9th Cir. 2006) (requiring compelling reason for the sealed
4 filing of documents); Lombardi v. TriWest Healthcare Alliance Corp., CV 08–02381, 2009 WL
5 1212170, at *1 (D. Ariz. May 4, 2009) (allowing the defendant to file exhibits under seal where they
6 contained “sensitive personal and medical information” (citing Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179)); Chloe
7 SAS v. Sawbeth Info. Servs. Co., CV 11-04147-MMM (MANx), 2015 WL 12734004, at *3 (C.D. Cal.
8 February 4, 2015) (collecting cases for the proposition that non-party privacy interest, “particularly
9 those related to sensitive matters” are sufficient to satisfy the “good cause” standard for sealing); cf. In
10 re Boston Herald, Inc., 321 F.3d 174 (1st Cir. 2003) (“Personal financial information, such as one’s
11 income or bank account balance, is universally presumed to be private, not public”). It would not be
12 appropriate to redact the sensitive and personal information in the CAR because this information may be
13 relevant to the Court in resolving this action.
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Defense counsel provided the CAR to opposing counsel electronically on June 2, 2017.

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The total number of submitted pages is 341.

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Respectfully Submitted,

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CHAD A. READLER
Acting Assistant Attorney
General, Civil Division

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WILLIAM C. PEACHEY
Director
District Court Section
Office of Immigration Litigation

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JEFFREY S. ROBINS
Assistant Director
District Court Section
Office of Immigration Litigation

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s/ Aaron S. Goldsmith
AARON S. GOLDSMITH
Senior Litigation Counsel
District Court Section
U.S. Department of Justice
P.O. Box 868, Ben Franklin Station
Washington, D.C. 20044
Telephone: [phone]
[e-mail]

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AUDREY BENISON HEMESATH
U.S. Attorney’s Office

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Attorneys for Defendants

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Discussion

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Given the unopposed nature of the request, and the explanation for sealing, the Court will grant

23 the motion to seal. However, it is clear that a significant portion of the documents do not contain private
24 or personal matters that should be sealed. Under these circumstances, it appears appropriate for the
25 Defendants to file a redacted public version of the sealed documents in the docket. See Fed. R. Civ. P.
26 5.2(d). Prior to ordering that a redacted version be filed, however, the Court will give Defendants the
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opportunity to further address the issue.

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ORDER

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Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
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Defendants’ unopposed motion to seal is GRANTED and the 341 page Certified Administrative

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Record is SEALED; and
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2.

Within 30 days of service of this order, Defendants shall either file a redacted public version of

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the sealed administrative record on the docket or show cause in writing why it would be

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inappropriate to file a redacted public version on the docket.

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10 IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated: July 13, 2017
SENIOR DISTRICT JUDGE

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