J.S.1 v. County of Kern ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 J.S.1, J.S.2, T.S., and A.T., by and through their ) Case No.: 1:20-cv-01557 DAD JLT guardian ad litem, SAVANAH ST. CLAIR, ) 12 ) ORDER GRANTING REQUEST TO FILE Plaintiff, ) PROOF OF DEPOSITS UNDER SEAL 13 ) (Doc. 21) v. ) 14 ) COUNTY OF KERN, et al., ) 15 ) Defendants. ) 16 17 J.S.1, J.S.2, T.S., and A.T., by and through their guardian ad litem Savanah St. Clair, seek to 18 file under seal the proof that their settlement proceeds have been deposited (Doc. 21) In general, 19 documents filed in civil cases are presumed to be available to the public. EEOC v. Erection Co., 900 20 F.2d 168, 170 (9th Cir. 1990); see also Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 21 1178 (9th Cir.2006); Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1134 (9th Cir.2003). 22 Documents may be sealed only when the compelling reasons for doing so outweigh the public’s right 23 of access. EEOC at 170. 24 The request to seal documents is controlled by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c). The 25 Rule permits the Court to issue orders to “protect a party or person from annoyance, embarrassment, 26 oppression, or undue burden or expense, including . . . requiring that a trade secret or other 27 confidential research, development, or commercial information not be revealed or be revealed only in 28 a specified way.” Only if good cause exists may the Court seal the information from public view after 1 balancing “the needs for discovery against the need for confidentiality.’” Pintos v. Pac. Creditors 2 Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 678 (9th Cir. Cal. 2010) (quoting Phillips ex rel. Estates of Byrd v. Gen. Motors 3 Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1213 (9th Cir. 2002)). Likewise, Local Rule 141 requires a demonstration of the 4 compelling need for the information to be shielded from public view. L.R. 141(b). 5 The Court agrees that information such as private banking information should be sealed. Thus, 6 the Court ORDERS: 7 1. The plaintiffs’ request to seal the proof that the settlement funds were deposited into 8 blocked accounts (Doc. 21) is GRANTED. 9 2. Within three court days, the plaintiffs SHALL email the relevant documents, 10 specifically, those documents that were filed with redactions, to ApprovedSealed@caed.uscourts.gov 11 for filing under seal. 12 13 IT IS SO ORDERED. 14 Dated: August 2, 2021 _ /s/ Jennifer L. Thurston CHIEF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28