Richards v. Cox et al

Filing 74

ORDER Granting Defendants' 61 Motion for Leave to File Exhibit 2 Under Seal. Defendants' 64 Motion for Leave to File Confidential Documents Under Seal is Granted. The Clerk is to seal Exhibits 6 (Arrest Report) and 7 (Deposi tion of Bumgardner) currently hyperlinked as Exhibits 60 -5 and 60 -6. Defendants are to refile Exhibits 6 and 7 on the docket redacting all identifying information of the minor within 14 days. Signed by Magistrate Judge Brenda Weksler on 6/18/2019. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - SLD)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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DISTRICT OF NEVADA

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***

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STACEY M. RICHARDS,

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Case No. 2:16-cv-01794-JCM-BWN

Plaintiff,
ORDER
v.
GREG COX, et al.,
Defendants.

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Presently before the court are Defendants’ Motion for Leave to File Exhibit 2 Under Seal

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in Support of Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 61) and Defendants’ Motion

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for Leave to File Confidential Documents Under Seal in Support of Defendants’ Motion for

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Summary Judgment (ECF No. 64), filed on October 8, 2018 and October 10, 2018, respectively.

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These motions were referred to the undersigned on May 17, 2019. In these motions, defendants

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request that various exhibits in support of their motion for summary judgment (ECF. No. 60) be

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filed under seal. Plaintiff did not oppose either motion.

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Generally, the public has a right to access judicial records. Kamakana v. City & Cnty. of

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Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006). As a result, there is a strong presumption in favor

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of public accessibility, and a party seeking to seal a judicial record “bears the burden of

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overcoming this strong presumption.” Id.

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When a party seeks to seal documents related to a dispositive motion, as is the case here,

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the party “must articulate compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings” that

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outweigh the public policies favoring disclosure. Id. at 1178-79 (alteration and internal quotation

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marks and citations omitted). Examples of sufficiently compelling reasons include when court

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files “might have become a vehicle for improper purposes, such as the use of records to gratify

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private spite, promote public scandal, circulate libelous statements, or release trade secrets.” Id. at

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1179 (quotation omitted).

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Defendants’ motion to file Exhibit 2 under seal (ECF No. 61) requests that the court allow

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it to seal Ely State Prison’s Confidential Operational Procedure (OP) 405. Defendants argue that

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under certain prison regulations, inmates are not allowed to have confidential operational

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procedures and that putting OP 405 into the public record could create security and safety risks at

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the prison. (ECF No. 61 at 2-3.) Generally, because of the safety and security risks present in

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prisons, prison administrators are “accorded wide-ranging deference in the adoption and

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execution of policies and practices that in their judgment are needed to preserve internal order and

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discipline and to maintain institutional security.” Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 547 (1979).

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Indeed, “[s]uch considerations are peculiarly within the province and professional expertise of

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corrections officials, and, in the absence of substantial evidence in the record to indicate that the

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officials have exaggerated their response to these considerations, courts should ordinarily defer to

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their expert judgment in such matters.” Id. at 547-48. Here, there is no substantial evidence in the

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record that disallowing inmates to have access to OP 405 is an exaggerated response to the safety

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and security concerns present in prisons.

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Further, after reviewing OP 405, the court finds that inmates’ possession of OP 405 could

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pose safety and security risks to inmates and prison staff, by giving inmates access to confidential

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plans and procedures used to ensure the safety of everyone in the prison. Accordingly, the court

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finds that defendants have presented compelling reasons based on articulable facts (see

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Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1178-79) to seal Exhibit 2, and the court will grant defendants’ motion to

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file Exhibit 2 under seal (ECF No. 61).

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Defendants also move the court to withdraw Exhibits 6 and 7 from the public record and

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file them under seal, as these exhibits were inadvertently filed in the public record and contain

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sensitive and identifying information about a minor. (ECF No. 64.) The court has reviewed

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Exhibits 6 and 7 and finds that there are compelling reasons for redacting certain information in

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these exhibits. Specifically, these exhibits identify a minor human trafficking victim and provide

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sensitive information about her victimization. However, the court also finds that there is much
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information in Exhibits 6 and 7 that does not identify the minor. Given the strong presumption in

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favor of public access to judicial records, the court finds that Exhibits 6 and 7 should not be

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sealed in their entirety but rather simply redacted to protect the identity of the minor. Therefore,

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the court will seal Exhibits 6 and 7 and require defendants to refile these exhibits on the docket in

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a redacted format within 14 days.

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IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion for Leave to File Exhibit 2

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Under Seal in Support of Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 61) is

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GRANTED.

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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion for Leave to File Confidential

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Documents Under Seal in Support of Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 64)

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is GRANTED.

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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk is to seal Exhibits 6 (Arrest Report) and 7
(Deposition of Bumgardner), currently hyperlinked as Exhibits 5 and 6 to ECF No. 60.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that defendants are to refile Exhibits 6 and 7 on the docket,
redacting all identifying information of the minor within 14 days.

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DATED: June 18, 2019

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BRENDA WEKSLER
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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