Thomas v. United States of America

Filing 30

ORDER by U.S. District Judge John C Coughenour granting Government's 27 Motion to seal. Exhibit 12 28 to Government's Answer shall remain sealed. (PM) cc: Petitioner via the U.S. Mail

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THE HONORABLE JOHN C. COUGHENOUR 1 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 7 8 9 STEVEN ASIR THOMAS, 10 Petitioner, 11 v. CASE NO. C16-1147-JCC ORDER GRANTING RESPONDENT’S MOTION TO SEAL 12 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 13 Respondent. 14 This matter comes before the Court on the Government’s unopposed motion to seal (Dkt. 15 16 No. 27). Having thoroughly considered the parties’ briefing and the relevant record, the Court 17 finds oral argument unnecessary and hereby GRANTS the motion for the reasons explained 18 herein. 19 The Court starts from the position that “[t]here is a strong presumption of public access to 20 [its] files.” W.D. Wash. Local Civ. R. 5(g)(3); see also Nixon v. Warner Commc’ns, Inc., 435 21 U.S. 589, 597 (1978). However, documents filed in support of a dispositive motion should 22 remain under seal when a party can “articulate[] compelling reasons supported by specific 23 factual findings” that outweigh the public’s interest in access. Kamakana v. City & Cty. of 24 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006). 25 The Government requests that one exhibit to its answer in opposition to Petitioner Steven 26 Thomas’s motion to vacate, set aside, and correct sentence remain sealed. (Dkt. No. 27 at 1.) The ORDER GRANTING RESPONDENT’S MOTION TO SEAL PAGE - 1 1 Government contends that the “attachment contains sensitive and personal information.” (Id.) 2 The Court finds that these are compelling reasons to keep the exhibit sealed and agrees that it 3 should remain sealed. Therefore, the motion to seal is GRANTED. 4 DATED this 25th day of January 2017. 5 6 7 A 8 9 10 John C. Coughenour UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 ORDER GRANTING RESPONDENT’S MOTION TO SEAL PAGE - 2

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