United States of America v. State of California et al

Filing 211

STIPULATION to UNSEAL DOCUMENTS by Xavier Becerra, Edmund Gerald Brown, Jr, State of California. (Attachments: # 1 Proposed Order)(Melton, Cherokee) Modified on 10/15/2018 (Benson, A.).

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XAVIER BECERRA
Attorney General of California
THOMAS S. PATTERSON
MICHAEL NEWMAN
Senior Assistant Attorneys General
SATOSHI YANAI
ANTHONY HAKL
Supervising Deputy Attorneys General
CHRISTINE CHUANG
CHEROKEE DM MELTON
MAUREEN ONYEAGBAKO
LEE I. SHERMAN
Deputy Attorneys General
State Bar No. 272271
300 S. Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Telephone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
Attorneys for Defendants

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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SACRAMENTO DIVISION
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THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff,

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Case No. 2:18-cv-00490-JAM-KJN
STIPULATED REQUEST TO UNSEAL
DOCUMENTS

v.

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THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA; EDMUND
GERALD BROWN, JR., Governor of
California, in his official capacity; and
XAVIER BECERRA, Attorney General of
California, in his official capacity,

Courtroom:
Judge:

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The Honorable John A.
Mendez
Trial Date:
None set
Action Filed: March 6, 2018

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Defendants.
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Stipulated Request to Unseal Document

(2:18-cv-00490-JAM-KJN)

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The United States filed this lawsuit on March 6, 2018. On the same date, the United States

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filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction. ECF No. 2. After the filing of the complaint, the

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parties engaged in limited, expedited discovery focused on irreparable harm, which included

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depositions and document productions. See ECF Nos. 28, 118. To facilitate the production of

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confidential and other sensitive information, the Court issued a Protective Order. ECF No. 53.

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On May 3, 2018, the date before California’s opposition to the United States’ preliminary

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injunction motion was due, the United States produced the detention facility contracts (the

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“contracts”) referenced in paragraph 51 of the Amended Declaration of Thomas Homan filed in

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support of the United States’ preliminary injunction motion. At the time of production, the

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United States conferred a blanket confidentiality designation on the contracts to provide

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California with the documents in an expedited manner before California’s filing of its opposition.

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In light of the impending filing deadline, California did not object to the confidentiality

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designations for the contracts at that time, and the parties agreed to meet and confer regarding the

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designations at a later date if necessary.

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California filed its opposition to the Motion for Preliminary Injunction on May 4, 2018, and

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attached the contracts as Exhibits N-S to the Amended Declaration of Cherokee Melton in

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Support of Defendants’ Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction (“Melton PI

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Declaration”). 1 ECF No. 83-2, ¶¶ 18-23. California also filed a summary index of information

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contained in the contracts, attached as Exhibit M to the Melton PI Declaration. ECF No. 83-2,

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¶ 17. Under the terms of the Court’s Protective Order and Local Rule 141, California filed

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Exhibits M-S provisionally under seal and submitted to the Court a Request to Seal containing the

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unredacted versions of the documents. ECF No. 76. The Court granted California’s Request to

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Seal on May 7, 2018. ECF No. 80.

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The Declaration of Cherokee Melton in Support of Defendants’ Opposition to Plaintiff’s
Motion for Preliminary Injunction was filed concurrently with California’s Opposition on May 4,
2018. ECF No. 74-2. On May 14, 2018, California filed a Supplemental and Amended
Declaration of Cherokee Melton in Support of Defendants’ Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion for
Preliminary Injunction. ECF No. 83. There were no changes made to Exhibits M through S
attached to the amended declaration. See ECF No. 83-1, ¶ 4.
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Stipulated Request to Unseal Documents

(18-cv-00490-JAM-KJN)

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The parties agree that there are no compelling reasons to keep Exhibits M through S to the

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Melton Declaration sealed in their entirety. The contracts are public documents because they are

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agreements entered into by and between state and federal governmental entities. Also, the federal

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government has made contracts like the ones under seal here publicly available, with limited

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redactions, under the Freedom of Information Act. See Official Website of the Department of

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Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, FOIA Library,

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Intergovernmental Service Agreements https://www.ice.gov/foia/library (Oct. 4, 2018).

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The parties further agree, however, that some of the exhibits do contain sensitive or private
information which should be redacted. There are compelling reasons to keep this limited

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information confidential to protect (1) the privacy interests of an individual who is not a signatory

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identified in the contract; (2) sensitive law enforcement information; and (3) proprietary

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information to avoid competitive harm. Therefore, the parties stipulate and agree as follows:

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Exhibits M and P should be unsealed without any redactions.

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2.

Exhibits N, O, Q, R, and S should be unsealed with the following redactions:
• Exhibit S at p. 380 2 (Bates No. USvCA_Homan_Depo001361). The name, phone

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number, and email address for an individual who is not a signatory to this contract

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should be redacted. The parties agree that the privacy interests of the individual

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who is a non-signatory outweigh any public interest in this information.

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• Exhibit O at pp. 138-39 (Bates No. USvCA_Homan_Depo001242-1243); Exhibit Q

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at p. 251 (Bates No. USvCA_Homan_Depo001017-1018); and Exhibit S at p. 385

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(Bates No. USvCA_Homan_Depo001366). Portions of these contracts contain

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sensitive law enforcement information regarding firearms, body armor, and security

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and should be redacted.
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Exhibit N at pp. 37-38, 40 3; Exhibit R at pp. 253-54, 258, 297-379 (Bates No.

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USvCA_Homan_Depo001421-001422, 001432, 001590). Portions of these

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contracts contain proprietary information, the disclosure of which may cause

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The page numbers referenced in connection with each exhibit refers to the page numbers
reflected on the original documents submitted to the Court under seal on May 4, 2018.
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This contract was produced without a corresponding Bates number.
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Stipulated Request to Unseal Documents

(18-cv-00490-JAM-KJN)

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competitive harm to the owner of that information. Specifically, this information

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relates to occupancy rates with unit pricing and a contract proposal that should be

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redacted. The parties further agree that the proposed redactions should be limited to

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the specific number and prices in the contract and not, for example, a block

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redaction of an entire paragraph or page containing that information.

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Dated: October 12, 2018

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JOSEPH H. HUNT
Assistant Attorney General
CHAD A. READLER
Principal Deputy Assistant
Attorney General
MCGREGOR SCOTT
United States Attorney
AUGUST FLETJE
Special Counsel
EREZ REUVENI
Assistant Director
DAVID SHELLEDY
Civil Chief, Assistant United States Attorney
LAUREN C. BINGHAM
JOSEPH A. DARROW
FRANCESCA GENOVA
KATHRYNE GRAY
JOSHUA S. PRESS

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/s/ Lauren Bingham

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Respectfully Submitted,

_____________________
Lauren Bingham
Trial Attorney
Attorneys for the United States
of America

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XAVIER BECERRA
Attorney General of California
THOMAS S. PATTERSON
MICHAEL NEWMAN
Senior Assistant Attorneys General
SATOSHI YANAI
ANTHONY HAKL
Supervising Deputy Attorneys General
CHRISTINE CHUANG
CHEROKEE DM MELTON
MAUREEN ONYEAGBAKO
LEE I. SHERMAN
/s/ Cherokee Melton
_____________________
Cherokee Melton
Deputy Attorney General
Attorneys for the State of California

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Stipulated Request to Unseal Documents

(18-cv-00490-JAM-KJN)