Walker-McGee et al v. Kern County Sheriff's Office et al

Filing 17

ORDER GRANTING 14 Motion for Order Sealing Complaint and Requests for use of Pseudonym signed by Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on 2/16/2021. (Lundstrom, T)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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Plaintiffs,
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v.
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KERN COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE, et al.,
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Defendants.
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STACY L WALKER-MCGEE, et al.,

Case No.: 1:20-cv-01544-JLT
ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR ORDER
SEALING COMPLAINT AND REQUESTS FOR
USE OF PSEUDONYM
(Doc. 14)

On February 4, 2021, Defendant County of Kern filed a motion for an order sealing the

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complaint (Doc. 1) and permitting the use of the pseudonym C.I. for the alleged confidential

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informant. (Doc. 14.) Plaintiff filed a statement of non opposition to Defendant’s motion on February

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12, 2021. (Doc. 16.) In that statement, Plaintiff also includes a related request to allow the use of the

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pseudonym “Jane Doe” for the Plaintiff in place of her legal name. (Id.) As discussed below, the Court

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GRANTS the parties’ requests.
DISCUSSION

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I.

Defendant’s Request to Seal and Redact

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Defendant cites Fed. R. Civ. P. 5.2(e) in support of its motion, which states:

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For good cause, the court may by order in a case:

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(1) require redaction of additional information; or

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(2) limit or prohibit a nonparty’s remote electronic access to a document filed with the
court.

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Id. Defendant contends that allegations identifying an individual as a confidential informant are highly

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sensitive and have the potential to harm that individual whether those allegations prove to be true.

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(Doc. 14 at 4.) Defendant alleges that the individual identified as a confidential informant might be

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harmed or killed merely because that person has been identified in Plaintiffs’ complaint. (Id.;

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Hamilton Decl. ¶ 4.)

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The Court finds that Defendant has established good cause to seal Plaintiffs’ complaint filed on
October 30, 2020 (Doc. 1) and grants the request to refer to the alleged confidential informant by the

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initials “C.I.” in all future pleadings and papers in this matter.

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II.

Plaintiff’s Request to Use Pseudonym

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In Plaintiff’s statement of non-opposition, Plaintiff requests (1) the use of the pseudonym “Jane

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Doe” in her first amended complaint, in place of her legal name as contained in her initial pleading, (2)

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to require the use of the pseudonym in all pleadings and papers filed in this action, and (3) to prohibit

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Defendants from disclosing or publishing the true name of the Plaintiff except by order of this Court

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and as necessary to effectuate Defendant’s defense of this matter. (Doc. 16.) The Court notes that the

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Plaintiff has already included this pseudonym in her first amended complaint (see Doc. 7) and

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approves this request.

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ORDER

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Accordingly, the Court ORDERS as follows:

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1.

Plaintiff’s complaint, filed on October 30, 2020 (Doc. 1) shall be sealed;

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2.

The parties shall refer to the alleged confidential informant by the initials “C.I.” in all

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future pleadings and papers filed in this action;
3.

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All parties and their counsel are prohibited from disseminating the true name of C.I.,
except as necessary to effectively litigate this matter;

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All parties and their counsel shall be required to use the pseudonym “Jane Doe” in
place of Plaintiff’s legal name in all future pleadings and papers filed in this action; and

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5.

The parties are prohibited from disclosing or publishing the true name of the Plaintiff

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except by order of this Court and as necessary toward the prosecution or defense of the

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case.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:

February 16, 2021

/s/ Jennifer L. Thurston
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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