Wilson v. City of West Sacramento et al

Filing 63

PROTECTIVE ORDER as to Rebecca Wilson signed by Magistrate Judge Allison Claire on 10/6/2015. (Michel, G.)

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1 2 3 LAW OFFICE OF STEWART KATZ STEWART KATZ, State Bar #127425 555 University Avenue, Suite 270 Sacramento, California 95825 Telephone: (916) 444-5678 4 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 REBECCA WILSON (by and through Heather ) ) Bevard as Guardian ad Litem), ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) CITY OF WEST SACRAMENTO, et. al. ) ) ) Defendant. ) ) ) 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 PLAINTIFF’S REQUEST FOR COURT INSPECTION OF INFORMATION FROM SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION AND [PROPOSED] PROTECTIVE ORDER On August 27, 2015, this Court ordered the Social Security Administration (SSA) to release information about the Plaintiff in the above-captioned case. Plaintiff’s attorney requests the Court to enter this Protective Order limiting the use of this information pursuant to 20 C.F.R. § 401.180(f). STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 20 21 Case No. 2:13-cv-02550 WBS AC ______________ 1. PURPOSE. This Court has ordered SSA to produce program information to assist the Court in determining Plaintiff’s legal capacity. The Privacy Act, the Social Security Act and regulations, and SSA policies strictly protect an individual’s program information. 5 U.S.C. § 552a; 42 U.S.C. §§ 405, 902(a)(5), 1306, & 1320b-11; 20 C.F.R. 401.5 et. seq. Program information means personal information and records collected and compiled by SSA in order to discharge its responsibilities under the Social Security Act and the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act. 20 C.F.R. § 401.25. -1- 1 Absent the subject individual’s consent, SSA must not release the individual’s program 2 information unless one of 12 exceptions of the Privacy Act, Social Security Act and regulations 3 is satisfied. Under 5 U.S.C. § 552a(b)(11), a federal agency may release information in its 4 records pursuant to an order of a court of competent jurisdiction. SSA’s regulations place 5 additional restrictions on its disclosure of information pursuant to a court order. Under 20 C.F.R. 6 § 401.180(f), SSA may disclose information to a court of competent jurisdiction, and 7 will make [our] decision regarding disclosure by balancing the needs of a court 8 while preserving the confidentiality of information. For example, [SSA] may 9 disclose information under a court order that restricts the use and redisclosure of 10 the information by the participants in the proceeding; [SSA] may offer the 11 information for inspection by the court in camera and under seal; or [SSA] may 12 arrange for the court to exclude information identifying individuals from that 13 portion of the proceedings that is available to the public. [SSA] will make these 14 determinations in accordance with § 401.1401. 15 20 C.F.R. § 401.180(f). 16 In this case, SSA may comply with the Court’s August 27, 2015 order, because the 17 requested program records will be produced solely for the Court’s in camera inspection under 18 seal for the limited purpose of determining Plaintiff's legal capacity; the only other individual 19 20 21 22 23 24 1 According to 20 C.F.R § 401.140, when no law specifically requiring or prohibiting disclosure applies to a question of whether to disclose information, we follow FOIA principles to resolve that question. We do this to insure uniform treatment in all situations. The FOIA principle which most often applies to SSA disclosure questions is whether the disclosure would result in a "clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy." To decide whether a disclosure would be a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy we consider— (a) The sensitivity of the information (e.g., whether individuals would suffer harm or embarrassment as a result of the disclosure); 25 (b) The public interest in the disclosure; 26 (c) The rights and expectations of individuals to have their personal information kept confidential; 27 28 (d) The public's interest in maintaining general standards of confidentiality of personal information; and (e) The existence of safeguards against unauthorized redisclosure or use. -2- 1 permitted to see any such program records will be Plaintiff’s attorney; none of the information 2 will be used for any other purpose, or re-disclosed for any reason or in any manner; and within 3 sixty (60) days after the termination of this case, the Court and Plaintiff’s attorney will destroy 4 the documents and any and all copies. 5 2. INFORMATION SUBJECT TO THIS ORDER. 6 This protective order covers any information and documents that SSA may release to the 7 Court pursuant to the Court’s August 27, 2015 order. The Protective Order extends to any 8 information copied or extracted from information produced to the Court from SSA, such as 9 copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations. It also includes testimony, conversations, or 10 presentations by parties or counsel to or in court or in other settings that might reveal information 11 subject to the Protective Order. Collectively, this information is classified as “Protected 12 Information.” 13 3. DESIGNATING AND HANDLING CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION. 14 Protected Information shall be marked “CONFIDENTIAL” on each page that contains 15 Protected Information. 16 If the Plaintiff’s counsel or the Court changes a document marked “CONFIDENTIAL” 17 by copying or extracting the information therefrom, the Plaintiff’s counsel or the Court will mark 18 the secondary document as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 19 20 An inadvertent failure to designate qualified information or items as “CONFIDENTIAL” does not waive the right to secure protection under this Protective Order. 21 The Court and Plaintiff’s counsel shall ensure that the Protected Information is secured. 22 The Court and Plaintiff’s counsel shall encrypt any electronic transmission of the Protected 23 Information. The Court and Plaintiff’s counsel shall password-protect any electronic version of 24 the Protected Information. The Court and Plaintiff’s counsel shall store or transmit any paper 25 copies of the Protected Information in a locked case. 26 /// 27 /// 28 -3- 1 4. DURATION. 2 Even after the termination of this proceeding, the confidentiality obligations imposed by 3 this Protective Order shall remain in effect. 4 5. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED INFORMATION. 5 Except as provided herein, no person having access to Protected Information subject to 6 this Protective Order shall disclose that information in a manner not specifically provided for by 7 this Protective Order in the absence of a further order of the Court and in consultation with 8 SSA’s Office of Regional Chief Counsel in Region IX, San Francisco. 9 Any information SSA may release pursuant to 20 C.F.R. §§ 401.140, 401.180(f) shall be 10 produced under seal and in camera for the Court’s consideration solely to determine Plaintiff’s 11 legal capacity. The Court may decide that disclosure of the information to Plaintiff’s counsel is 12 necessary to assist the Court in making this determination. 13 Protected Information shall only be made available for in camera inspection under seal. 14 Only the Court and Plaintiff’s counsel may view and/or use Protected Information for the 15 specific purpose of determining Plaintiff’s legal capacity, and for no other purpose. 16 Only the Court and Plaintiff’s counsel may make copies of Protected Information. 17 6. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE. 18 Protected Information must be stored in a secure manner that ensures that access is 19 limited to the persons authorized under this Protective Order. If Protected Information is lost or 20 compromised, the disclosing party shall notify SSA as soon as possible after discovery, 21 ordinarily within 24 hours of discovery, so that SSA can meet its reporting requirements. The 22 disclosing party must use its best efforts to retrieve all copies of Protected Information and 23 inform the person to whom unauthorized disclosure was made of the terms of this Protective 24 Order. 25 7. FILING PROTECTED INFORMATION. 26 The Protected Information will not be filed in the public record. 27 /// 28 /// -4- 1 8. FINAL DISPOSITION. 2 Unless otherwise ordered, within sixty days after the conclusion of this matter, which 3 shall be at the conclusion of proceedings before this Court or the exhaustion of any direct 4 appeals, the Court and Plaintiff’s counsel shall destroy all copies of documents and portions 5 thereof containing the Protected Information . 6 7 Respectfully submitted, 8 9 10 Dated: October 1, 2015 /s/ Stewart Katz STEWART KATZ Attorneys for Plaintiff 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -5- 1 2 3 LAW OFFICE OF STEWART KATZ STEWART KATZ, State Bar #127425 555 University Avenue, Suite 270 Sacramento, California 95825 Telephone: (916) 444-5678 4 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 REBECCA WILSON (by and through Heather ) Case No. 2:13-cv-02550 WBS AC ) ______________ Bevard as Guardian ad Litem), ) ) [PROPOSED] PROTECTIVE ORDER Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) CITY OF WEST SACRAMENTO, et. al. ) ) ) Defendant. ) ) ) 15 16 GOOD CAUSE HAVING BEEN SHOWN, the Court hereby enters Plaintiff’s Proposed Protective Order. 17 18 DATED: October 6, 2015 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -6-

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