Creer v. City of Vallejo et al
Filing
60
ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Deborah Barnes on 12/5/16 ORDERING that Defendants' 59 request to seal is GRANTED. Defendants shall contact the Clerk to submit the appropriate items for filing under seal. Plaintiff shall not file on the public docket any item ordered filed under seal. (Kastilahn, A)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
10
11
LATASHA NICOLE CREER,
12
Plaintiff,
13
14
No. 2:14-cv-1428 JAM DB PS
v.
ORDER
CITY OF VALLEJO, et al.,
15
Defendants.
16
On November 21, 2016, plaintiff filed a motion to compel. (ECF No. 57.) On November
17
18
23, 2016, plaintiff delivered to defendants a notice of intent to file confidential documents
19
protected by the August 20, 2016 protective order. (ECF No. 59 at 6.) On December 2, 2016,
20
defendants filed a request that those confidential documents be filed under seal. (Id. at 1.)
Requests to seal documents in this district are governed by E.D. Cal. R. (“Local Rule”)
21
22
141. In brief, Local Rule 141 provides that documents may only be sealed by a written order of
23
the court after a specific request to seal has been made. Local Rule 141(a). However, a mere
24
request to seal is not enough under the local rules. “In particular, Local Rule 141(b) requires that
25
the ‘Request to Seal Documents’ shall set forth the statutory or other authority for sealing[.]”
26
Patriot Rail Corp. v. Sierra Railroad Company, No. 2:09-cv-0009 TLN AC, 2016 WL 492702, at
27
*3 (E.D. Cal. Feb. 9, 2016) (emphasis in original) (citation omitted).
28
////
1
The court starts “‘with a strong presumption in favor of access to court records.’” Ctr. for
1
2
Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1096 (9th Cir. 2016) (quoting Foltz v. State
3
Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1135 (9th Cir. 2003)). “The presumption of access is
4
‘based on the need for federal courts, although independent – indeed, particularly because they
5
are independent – to have a measure of accountability and for the public to have confidence in the
6
administration of justice.’” Id. (quoting United States v. Amodeo, 71 F.3d 1044, 1048 (2d Cir.
7
1995)).
8
A request to seal material must normally meet the high threshold of showing that
9
“compelling reasons” support secrecy. Id. (citing Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu,
10
447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006)). However, where the material is, at most, “tangentially
11
related to the merits of a case,” the request to seal may be granted on a showing of “good cause.”
12
Id. at 1097-1101.
13
Here, the items sought to be filed under seal concern the parties’ discovery dispute and
14
appear to be only tangentially related to the merits of this action. Therefore, the “good cause”
15
standard applies. See Foltz, 331 F.3d at 1135 (“In short, ‘good cause’ suffices to warrant
16
preserving the secrecy of sealed discovery material attached to nondispositive motions.”).
17
Moreover, a review of the items sought to be filed under seal finds that they include documents
18
and videos related to criminal and civil investigations of non-parties, including juveniles, and
19
Vallejo Police Department Internal Affairs investigations.
20
In this regard, the undersigned finds good cause to grant defendants’ motion.1
21
Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
1) Defendants’ December 2, 2016 request to seal (ECF No. 59) is granted;
22
23
////
24
////
25
////
26
1
27
28
Why plaintiff seeks to file these documents in support of a motion to compel is far from clear.
In this regard, plaintiff is cautioned that her filings should not include unnecessary or
inappropriate attachments and should instead focus on providing important facts and persuasive
arguments.
2
1
2
3
4
2) Defendants shall contact the Clerk of the Court to submit the appropriate items
for filing under seal; and
3) Plaintiff shall not file on the public docket any item ordered filed under seal.
Dated: December 5, 2016
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
DLB:6
DB\orders\orders.pro se\creer1428.req.seal.grt
25
26
27
28
3
Disclaimer: Justia Dockets & Filings provides public litigation records from the federal appellate and district courts. These filings and docket sheets should not be considered findings of fact or liability, nor do they necessarily reflect the view of Justia.
Why Is My Information Online?