Coleman, et al v. Schwarzenegger, et al

Filing 4860

ORDER signed by Judge Lawrence K. Karlton on 10/7/13 ORDERING that Paragraph 2.b of the Court's 9/26/13 Order, which provides, Any member of the public or press who views the videos is prohibited from publicly disclosing the names, identification numbers, or other personally-identifying information of any inmate or any peace officer or other employee of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) who may appear in any such video, is VACATED.(Mena-Sanchez, L)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

9

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

10
11

RALPH COLEMAN, et al.,

12

Plaintiffs,

13
14

No. CIV. S-90-520 LKK/DAD (PC)

v.

ORDER

EDMUND G. BROWN, JR., et al.,

15

Defendants.

16
Pursuant to court order, this matter was set for evidentiary

17
18

hearing on September 26, 2013 on, inter alia, plaintiffs’ motion

19

for enforcement of court orders and affirmative relief related to

20

use of force and disciplinary measures.

21

start of the hearing was continued to October 1, 2013.

By subsequent order, the

On September 12, 2013, defendants filed a motion in limine

22
23

to exclude or limit presentation by plaintiffs of use of force

24

videos at said hearing.1

25

court denied defendants’ motion in limine insofar as it sought

26

1

27
28

By order filed September 26, 2013, the

Use of force videos are made by defendants pursuant to state
regulation and were made available to plaintiffs and their expert
during prison tours. See Plfs.’ Opp. to Defs.’ MIL No. 6, filed
September 19, 2013 (ECF No. 4820) at 2.
1

1

exclusion of the videos or their review in camera.

2

September 26, 2013 (ECF No. 4833) at 2.

3

any video offered and accepted into evidence at the evidentiary

4

hearing will be shown in open court subject to a protective

5

order.

6

paragraph 2b. that “[a]ny member of the public or press who views

7

the videos is prohibited from publicly disclosing the names,

8

identification numbers, or other personally-identifying

9

information of any inmate or peace officer or other employee of

Order filed

The order provides that

The protective order provides, in relevant part, at

10

the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

11

(CDCR) who may appear in any such video.”

12

September 26, 2013 order was based on the court’s determinations

13

that (1) the issues raised by plaintiffs’ motion are of great

14

public interest and significance; and (2) the identity of

15

individuals depicted in the videos are irrelevant to the

16

proceedings and of no public interest and those individuals have

17

privacy interests otherwise protected by law.

18

2013 order was entered to balance those interests.

19

Id. at 2-3.

The

The September 26,

On September 30, 2013, Los Angeles Times Communications LLC

20

(Los Angeles Times) filed a motion to intervene in this action in

21

order to seek modification of that part of the protective order

22

quoted supra, which the Los Angeles Times challenges as a prior

23

restraint in violation of the First Amendment.

24

the evidentiary hearing on October 1, 2013, the court granted the

25

motion to intervene in open court and heard argument on the

26

motion to modify the protective order, after which the court made

27

the oral ruling now reduced to writing herein.

28
2

At the start of

1

There is no dispute that the videos depict members of the

2

plaintiff class, all of whom are seriously mentally ill.

3

identities of class members have been protected by a protective

4

order since early in this action.

5

1991 (Doc. No. 90).2

6

employees depicted in these video recordings acted ultra vires;

7

rather, plaintiffs assert that these employees are carrying out

8

their duties in accordance with the policies and procedures

9

currently in effect. As such, the identities of the CDCR

The

See Order filed September 12,

Nor do the parties contend that the CDCR

10

employees and the class members depicted are completely

11

irrelevant to the court’s consideration of this issues at bar.

12

After consideration of the arguments by counsel for the Los

13

Angeles Times and by counsel for plaintiffs and defendants, the

14

court entertained and granted from the bench a joint motion by

15

plaintiffs and defendants to strike any personally-identifying

16

information inadvertently shown during the playing of the videos

17

from the record of these proceedings.

18

irrelevant and will not be admitted into evidence in these

19

proceedings for any purpose.

20

Such information is

In accordance with the above, the court hereby orders as

21

follows:

22

[1]

23

which provides, “Any member of the public or press who views

24

the videos is prohibited from publicly disclosing the names,

25

identification numbers, or other personally-identifying

Paragraph 2.b of the court’s September 26, 2013 Order,

26
27
28

2

The protective order has been modified several times. See,
e.g., Modified Protective Order filed January 12, 2007 (ECF No.
2109).
3

1

information of any inmate or any peace officer or other

2

employee of the California Department of Corrections and

3

Rehabilitation (CDCR) who may appear in any such video,” is

4

VACATED.

5
6

[2] Any names, identification numbers, and other personally-

7

identifying information of any inmate and any peace officer

8

or other employee of the California Department of

9

Corrections and Rehabilitation who may appear in any video

10

shown during the evidentiary hearing is irrelevant to these

11

proceedings and will not be admitted into evidence for any

12

purpose.

13

during the playing of these tapes is STRICKEN from the

14

record of these proceedings, and for that reason may not be

15

disclosed by members of the press or the public in

16

attendance upon penalty of contempt of court. This order has

17

no application to information obtained by the press or

18

public independently of these proceedings.

19

IT IS SO ORDERED.

20

DATED:

Any such personal information inadvertently shown

October 7, 2013.

21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
4