Recouvreur v. Carreon

Filing 9

ORDER TO FILE MOTION TO PROCEED ANONYMOUSLY. Signed by Judge Nathanael M. Cousins on 7/19/12. (nclc1, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 7/19/2012)

Download PDF
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION 12 DOE, Case No. 12-cv-03435 NC 13 14 15 16 Plaintiff, ORDER TO FILE MOTION TO PROCEED ANONYMOUSLY v. CHARLES CARREON, Defendant. 17 18 19 Plaintiff filed a complaint for declaratory relief under the pseudonym “Doe.” Compl., Dkt. No. 1. In the complaint, plaintiff seeks leave to proceed anonymously “to protect her First 20 Amendment right to speak anonymously,” but she provides no additional information or authority 21 in support of her request. Id. ¶ 5. 22 Absent special circumstances, a party may not proceed anonymously because the “use of 23 fictitious names runs afoul of the public’s common law right of access to judicial proceedings . . . 24 and Rule 10(a)’s command that the title of every complaint include the names of all the parties.” 25 Does I thru XXIII v. Advanced Textile Corp., 214 F.3d 1058, 1067 (9th Cir. 2000) (citations and 26 27 internal quotation marks omitted). “[A] party may preserve his or her anonymity in judicial proceedings in special circumstances when the party’s need for anonymity outweighs prejudice to 28 Case No. 12-cv-03435 NC ORDER TO FILE MOTION 1 2 the opposing party and the public’s interest in knowing the party’s identity.” Id. at 1068. Accordingly, by August 2, 2012, plaintiff must file a motion to proceed under a 3 pseudonym that shows why the plaintiff’s need to proceed anonymously outweighs the prejudice 4 to defendant Carreon and the public’s interest in knowing plaintiff’s identity. Carreon may file an 5 opposition by August 16, 2012. Plaintiff may file a reply by August 23, 2012. After briefing is 6 completed, the court may schedule a hearing on the motion if such a hearing is necessary. 7 8 IT IS SO ORDERED. Date: July 19, 2012 9 _____________________ Nathanael M. Cousins United States Magistrate Judge 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Case No. 12-cv-03435 NC ORDER TO FILE MOTION 2

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?