Bushansky v. Commissioner of Social Security

Filing 39

ORDER: Accordingly, this Court denied the motion as moot. ECF No. 33 . The present request to redact or seal the Opinion and Order, which was received by this Court over five years later, is similarly untimely and moot. Therefore, the plaintiff� 39;s request is granted in part and denied in part. The administrative record and parties' briefs will be sealed, while the Court's Opinion and Orders will not be sealed. The Clerk is directed to seal ECF Nos. 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, and 16. SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge John G. Koeltl on 10/27/2020) (va)

Case 1:13-cv-02574-JGK Document 39 Filed 10/27/20 Page 1 of 3

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
13-cv-2574 (JGK)

SHERRY BUSHANSKY,

ORDER

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The Court has received a letter from the plaintiff in this
case , requesting a protective or sealing order to seal the
record or to redact "all medical and psychological/mental health
personal information and references" from the court record ,
including the Memorandum Opinion and Order, issued on September
23 , 2014 .

The Court is sympathetic to the plaintiff ' s concern for
privacy.

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure draw a

distinction between the administrative record in Social Security
c ases and any opinions that the court issues .

The

administrative rec o rd is afforded limited access remotely to
parties and their attorneys but is available more generally for
review at the Courthouse , while opinions and orders are
a v ailable remotely. See Fed. R. Civ . Pro . 5.2(c).
At this point, given the plaintiff ' s concern for privacy
and the age of the administrative rec o rd , there is n o longer a

Case 1:13-cv-02574-JGK Document 39 Filed 10/27/20 Page 2 of 3

reason for public access to the administrative record , and
therefore , the Court will seal the administrative record and the
briefs discussing the administrative record in this case .
On the other hand , there is an important interest in access
to judicial opinions , so that the public may understand the
application and development of the law in Social Security cases .
See , e . g ., Mitze v . Saul , 968 F . 3d 689 , 692 - 93 (7th Cir . 2020)
(per curiam) .

Therefore , there is no basis to seal this Court ' s

prior Opinion and Order in this case .
Moreover , this plaintiff ' s request to redact or seal the
Opinion and Order is untimely and moot. The plaintiff ' s original
request to redact or seal the Opinion and Order , was filed by
her counsel over four months after the Opinion and Order had
been issued , at which time it had already been published in
Westlaw .

ECF Nos . 28 - 29 . As the plaintiff ' s counsel

acknowledged at that time , this Court was without power to
"retroactively control the documents previously released . " ECF
No . 29.

Accord i ngly , this Court denied the motion as moot .

ECF

No . 33 . The present request to redact or seal the Opinion and
Order , which was received by this Court over five years later ,
is similarly untimely and moot .
Therefore , the plaintiff ' s request is granted in part and
denied in part.

The administrative record and parties ' briefs

will be sealed , while the Court ' s Opinion and Orders will not be

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Case 1:13-cv-02574-JGK Document 39 Filed 10/27/20 Page 3 of 3

sealed . The Clerk is directed to seal ECF Nos . 7 , 10 , 11 , 12 ,
14 , 15 , and 16 .
SO ORDERED .
Dated:

New York, New York
October 27, 2020

United States District Judge

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