Francis v. United States of America

Filing 10

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER SEALING EXHIBITS re: 9 Additional Documentation in support of Complaint. Signed by Magistrate Judge Cheryl A. Eifert on 12/27/2013. (cc: Plaintiff, attys) (mkw)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA
HUNTINGTON DIVISION
KEITH FRANCIS,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No.: 3:13-cv-27294

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Defendant.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER SEALING EXHIBITS
Plaintiff has filed exhibits in support of his Complaint in the instant matter. The
exhibits include medical records and other documents for which privacy protection
redactions should have been made, but were not made as required by Fed.R.Civ.P 5.2
and the Local Rules of this District. (ECF No. 9). Due to the highly confidential nature of
the exhibits, this Court ORDERS the exhibits to be sealed. The undersigned is
cognizant of the well-established Fourth Circuit precedent recognizing a presumption in
favor of public access to judicial records. Ashcraft v. Conoco, Inc., 218 F.3d 288 (4th
Cir. 2000). As stated in Ashcraft, before sealing a document, the Court must follow a
three step process: (1) provide public notice of the request to seal; (2) consider less
drastic alternatives to sealing the document; and (3) provide specific reasons and factual
findings supporting its decision to seal the documents and for rejecting alternatives. Id.
at 302. In this case, the exhibits shall be sealed and will be designated as sealed on the
Court’s docket. The Court deems this sufficient notice to interested members of the

public. The Court has considered less drastic alternatives to sealing the documents, but
in view of the highly confidential and specially protected nature of the records, as well as
the extent of the private information contained therein, no such alternatives are feasible
at this time. Moreover, the exhibits pertain to highly personal matters which have no
particular relevance to the general public. Accordingly, the Court finds that sealing the
exhibits until proper redactions can be made does not unduly or significantly prejudice
the public’s right to access them.
The Clerk is instructed to provide a copy of this Order to the Plaintiff and all
counsel of record.
ENTERED: December 27, 2013