Glik v. Cunniffe et al

Filing 53

Magistrate Judge Leo T. Sorokin: ORDER entered. The City of Boston may, no later than November 10, 2011, submit evidence to support its assertion that the internal affairs investigation at issue is ongoing and may submit a supplemental memo, not to exceed five pages; re 48 MOTION to Maintain Confidentiality of Certain Documents Produced Through Discovery filed by City of Boston

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS
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SIMON GLIK,
Plaintiff,
v.
JOHN CUNNIFFE, et al.,
Defendants.

Civil Action No. 10-10150-LTS

ORDER ON MOTION TO MAINTAIN CONFIDENTIALITY

November 1, 2011
SOROKIN, M.J.
Previously, the Court ordered the City of Boston to disclose to Plaintiff the internal affairs
materials regarding the incident underlying the Plaintiff’s complaint, subject to a confidentiality
order. The parties now dispute whether the Court should lift the confidentiality order.1 To meet its
burden of establishing “good cause” under FED. R. CIV. P. 26(c), the City advances two grounds: that
the internal affairs investigation is “still-ongoing,” and that the documents contain statements from
civilian witnesses other than the plaintiff.
The incident giving rise to this lawsuit and the internal affairs investigation at issue in the
present motion occurred on October 1, 2007, over four years ago. The incident presents a fairly
straightforward set of events of seemingly relatively brief duration. I note in that regard that the

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The parties agree that personal identifying information of the witnesses identified in the
documents shall remain confidential.

Plaintiff contends that the “still-ongoing” investigation has not resulted in the creation of a single
new document in the last eight months. Accordingly, without evidence establishing that in fact the
investigation is “still-ongoing,” the mere conclusory assertion by counsel of that fact is insufficient.
The City may, if it wishes, no later than November 10, 2011, submit evidence to support its assertion
that the investigation is ongoing and it may submit a supplemental memo, not to exceed five pages.

/s / Leo T. Sorokin
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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