Razak v. Leissner et al

Filing 37

ORDER granting 30 Letter Motion to Seal; granting 31 Letter Motion for Leave to File Document. Order to Seal. Petitioner's request is GRANTED. The Clerk of Court is respectfully requested to ensure that the documents filed at ECF Nos. 31, 33, and 35 remain under permanent seal, with access limited to the parties and the Court. (Signed by Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker on 2/24/2021) (mro)

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Kevin Carroll
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VIA ECF
February 23, 2021
CONFIDENTIAL
PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL

2/24/2021

The Honorable Katherine H. Parker
United States Magistrate Judge
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse
500 Pearl Street,
New York, NY 10007
Re:

Order to Seal
Petitioner's request is GRANTED. The Clerk of
Court is respectfully requested to ensure that
the documents filed at ECF Nos. 31, 33, and 35
remain under permanent seal, with access
limited to the parties and the Court.

Letter Motion for Permission to File a Redacted Document

Dear Judge Parker,

Date: 2/24/2021

Petitioner Mohd Najid Bin Abd Razak (“Petitioner”) respectfully submits this Letter Motion for
Permission to File a Redacted Document, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2(d)(e), Electronic Case Filing Rules & Instructions for the Southern District of New York §6, and
Rule 3(d) of Your Honor’s Individual Practices in Civil Cases, in order to provide under seal
certain information in its Opposition to the Government’s Motion to Intervene and for a Stay
[Dkt. 32] and its Opposition to the Government’s Motion to File Sensitive Information under
Seal and Ex Parte [Dkt. 34] (the “Oppositions”), which Respondent Timothy Leissner (through
his counsel) requests be redacted and sealed from the public record. As an accommodation
to Mr. Leissner, we have done so.
Mr. Leissner requests that Petitioner seal the portions of the Oppositions that reflect certain
information relating to the Government’s criminal case against Mr. Leissner (the “Redacted
Information”), United States v. Leissner, 18 Cr. 439 (MKB) (E.D.N.Y.) (the “Leissner Case”).

Upon information and belief, the Redacted Information is similar in nature to at least some of
the assertedly “sensitive information” in the Government’s Memoranda of Law in Support of its
Motion to Intervene and for a Stay [Dkt. 19] and to File Sensitive Information under Seal and Ex
Parte [Dkt. 21]. While the public enjoys a “qualified First Amendment right” to access judicial
documents and proceedings, and a presumptive right of access to judicial documents under
the common law, Logusch v. Pyramid Co. of Onondaga, 435 F.3d 110, 120 (2d Cir. 2006)
(quoting Hartford Courant Co. v. Pellegrino, 380 F.3d 83, 91 (2d Cir. 2004)), those rights may

C O N N E C T I C U T I N E W Y O R K I P H I L A D E L P H I A I WA S H I N G TO N , D C I PA L M B E A C H

The Honorable Katherine H. Parker
February 23, 2021
Page 2
be overcome by “specific, on the record findings . . . demonstrating that closure [or sealing] is
essential to preserve higher values and is narrowly tailored to serve that interest,” United States
v. Alcantara, 396 F.3d 189, 199 (2d Cir. 2005).

Any residual concern about infringement upon the qualified First Amendment right to
access judicial documents should be assuaged by the fact that the Redacted Information is
narrowly tailored: it amounts to a handful of lines in the Oppositions, collectively.
For the reasons set forth above, Petitioner respectfully requests that his request for approval
to file a redacted document be granted.
Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Kevin T. Carroll
Kevin T. Carroll

The Honorable Katherine H. Parker
February 23, 2021
Page 3

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on this date, February 23, 2021 an unredacted copy of this Letter
Motion was sent to all counsel of record by electronic mail.
Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Kevin T. Carroll_______________