L.G.C. v. Decker et al

Filing 19

ORDER granting #13 Letter Motion to Seal. Application GRANTED. The Clerk of Court is directed to file the Government's submissions at docket numbers 14 and 15 under seal, viewable to the Court and parties only. The Clerk of Court is further directed to terminate the pending motion at docket number 13. SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Katherine Polk Failla on 11/16/2021) (mml)

U.S. Department of Justice

[Type text]

United States Attorney
Southern District of New York
86 Chambers Street
New York, New York 10007

November 16, 2021
Hon. Katherine Polk Failla
United States District Judge
United States District Court
40 Foley Square
New York, New York 10007
Re:

MEMO ENDORSED

L.G.C. v. Decker et al., No. 21 Civ. 8800 (KPF)

Dear Judge Failla:
This Office represents the government in the above-referenced immigration habeas matter.
The government’s opposition in response to the habeas petition and motion for a preliminary
injunction (the “PI Motion”) is due November 16, 2021. I write respectfully, with petitioner’s
consent, to request permission to file under seal two declarations regarding the petitioner’s medical
diagnoses and treatment, which also attach his medical records from the detention facility. The
records include additional information beyond what petitioner included as part of Petition Exhibit
J (L.G.C.’s Medical and Mental Health Records, which were filed under seal). Consistent with
this Court’s Individual Rules, these documents will be filed under seal on ECF and electronically
related to this letter motion.
Although the Court’s Individual Rules and Practices specifies that prior permission of the
Court is not required to file certain documents (including medical records) under seal, the ECF
filing system appears to contemplate that a party seeking to file under seal must reference a court
order authorizing a sealed filing. The government therefore respectfully requests that the Court
grant leave to file the two medical declaration and the petitioner’s medical records under seal.
The government respectfully submits that sealing is appropriate notwithstanding the
presumption of access discussed by the Second Circuit in Lugosch v. Pyramid Co. of Onondaga,
435 F.3d 110, 119-20 (2d Cir. 2006), in light of the privacy interests of individuals in their medical
records. See, e.g., Barnwell v. FCI Danbury, No. 3:10-CV-01301 (DJS), 2011 WL 5330215, at
*5 (D. Conn. Nov. 3, 2011) (noting a rebuttable presumption of openness of court filings, but
granting motion to seal in light of federal law’s treatment of such records as confidential pursuant
to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), Pub. L. 104-191
(1996)). Courts in this District have permitted the sealing of medical records, even if specific
details relating to the individual’s health appear on the record. See, e.g., United States v. Needham,
460 F. Supp. 3d 323, 324 n.1 (S.D.N.Y. 2020); United States v. Estevez, No. 18 Cr. 669 (JPO),
2020 WL 1911207, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 20, 2020); United States v. Ebbers, 432 F. Supp. 3d 421,
423 n.1 (S.D.N.Y. 2020) (noting defendant’s waiver through “extensively citing to his medical
records and medical history in his own motion, in correspondence with the Court, and in open
Court during oral argument on his motion”).

Page 2

I thank the Court for its consideration of this request.
Respectfully submitted,
DAMIAN WILLIAMS
United States Attorney for the
Southern District of New York
By:

s/ Rebecca R. Friedman
REBECCA R. FRIEDMAN
Assistant United States Attorney
86 Chambers Street, 3rd floor
New York, New York 10007
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]

cc: Counsel of Record (via ECF)

Application GRANTED. The Clerk of Court is directed to file
the Government's submissions at docket numbers 14 and 15 under
seal, viewable to the Court and parties only.
The Clerk of Court is further directed to terminate the pending
motion at docket number 13.
Dated:

November 16, 2021
New York, New York

SO ORDERED.

HON. KATHERINE POLK FAILLA
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE