Hicks v. Neal et al

Filing 63

ORDER TO SEAL ONE EXHIBIT 50 51 (Illston, Susan) (Filed on 10/23/2013)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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MICHAEL J. HICKS,

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Plaintiff,

United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

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No. C 12-2207 SI (pr)
ORDER TO SEAL ONE EXHIBIT

v.
LINDA NEAL; et al.,
Defendants.
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In this pro se prisoner's civil rights action, plaintiff alleges that four defendants were

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deliberately indifferent to his need for mental health care while he was in the Salinas Valley

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psychiatric program in late 2011. Defendants have filed an administrative motion to file their

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motion for summary judgment under seal, arguing that their inclusion of plaintiff's mental health

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care records requires that their motion and supporting documents be concealed from the general

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public. Plaintiff has not opposed the motion.

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The court may order a document filed under seal "upon a request that establishes that the

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document, or portions thereof are privileged, protectable as a trade secret or otherwise entitled

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to protection under the law (hereinafter referred to as 'sealable'). The request must be narrowly

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tailored to seek sealing only of sealable material." N. D. Cal. Local Rule 79-5. There is a

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strong presumption favoring the public's right of access to court records which should be

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overridden only for a compelling reason. Hagestad v. Tragesser, 49 F.3d 1430, 1433-34 (9th

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Cir. 1995). "Counseling against such access would be the likelihood of an improper use,

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'including publication of scandalous, libelous, pornographic, or trade secret materials;

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infringement of fair trial rights of the defendants or third persons; and residual privacy rights.'"
Valley Broadcasting Co. v. United States District Court, 798 F.2d 1289, 1294 (9th Cir. 1986)

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(citation omitted).
Defendants seek to file under seal documents that include information about plaintiff's

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mental illnesses and their mental health care decisions. A significant amount of that information

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is already in the public record as a result of plaintiff's unsealed filings and some of the court's

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orders. Also, the court earlier found that plaintiff "has waived any privilege and privacy rights

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for his medical records that contain information about his mental health" by suing mental health

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practitioners for allegedly failing and refusing to adequately treat his mental illness. Docket #

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35 at 2 (order denying plaintiff's motion to quash subpoena). Defendants' citation to California

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Welfare and Institutions Code § 5328, does not appear to support the sealing of the court record

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United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

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because (assuming arguendo that it applies at all), § 4238(f) permits disclosure of confidential

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information "[t]o the courts, as necessary to the administration of justice." Similarly, disclosure

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in court proceedings appears to be permitted under the federal regulations cited by defendants.

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See e.g., 45 C.F.R. § 164.512(e).

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The public interest weighs in favor of allowing public access to the filings in this action.

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There currently is public debate about the adequacy of medical and mental health care provided

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in the California prison system. The public has a right to know about state officials' efforts (or

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lack of efforts) to provide mental health care to inmates in their custody, and that issue is at the

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very core of plaintiff’s complaint in this action. And the public has a right to know about the

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court’s adjudication of cases involving institutions funded by tax dollars.

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Having considered the relevant factors, the court concludes that the only document that

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should be sealed is the group exhibit of 798 pages of plaintiff's medical and psychiatric records

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from the Department of State Hospitals, submitted on a compact disk. Plaintiff's privacy

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interests are diminished in this case in which he has claimed that prison doctors are providing

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inadequate mental health care to him, but there is no need to make his entire mental health

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history open to the public. Accordingly, the court GRANTS defendants' motion to file

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documents under seal as to that one exhibit and DENIES the motion as to all the other

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documents in support of defendants' motion for summary judgment. (Docket # 50.) The court

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instructs as follows to implement this ruling:
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1.

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Defendants shall file a copy of Exhibit A to the Declaration of William

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Kulka, M.D. under seal. It is preferred that defendants electronically file a copy of the

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documents on the compact disk; if they are unable to electronically file a copy of those

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documents, they may file a physical copy of the compact disk.
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Defendants shall electronically file the following documents not under seal:

(1) the declaration of William Kulka, M.D. with an exhibit cover sheet showing that exhibit A

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has been filed under seal, (2) the declaration of Matthew Knapp and exhibits thereto, (3) the

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declaration of Rejinther Dosange, (4) the declaration of Linda Neal, (5) the declaration of

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Jennifer C. Addams, (6) the proposed order granting defendants' administrative motion to file

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United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

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under seal, (7) defendants' Rand warning to plaintiff regarding opposing summary judgment, and

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(8) "defendants' notice of motion and motion for summary judgment; memorandum of points and

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authorities in support." Defendants should file the materials within five days of the date of this

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order.

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Plaintiff's motion for an extension of time to file his opposition to the motion for summary

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judgment is GRANTED. (Docket # 51.) Plaintiff's opposition materials (Docket # 56 - # 60) are

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deemed to have been timely filed. Defendants' reply (Docket # 62) also is deemed to have been

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timely filed. The motion for summary judgment is now fully briefed and will be decided in due

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course.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: October 23, 2013

_______________________
SUSAN ILLSTON
United States District Judge

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