Nwankwere v. Jaddou ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 THERESA NWANKWERE, Case No. 1:22-cv-01212-JLT-SKO 8 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S UNOPPOSED REQUEST TO SEAL 9 v. DOCUMENTS IN ACCORDANCE WITH LOCAL RULE 141 10 UR M. JADDOU, Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 11 Defendant. (Doc. 15) 12 13 On February 7, 2023, Defendant submitted a request to file under seal (the “Request to 14 Seal”) the Certified Administrative Record (“CAR”) in this case and the Request to Seal itself. (See 15 Doc. 15.) Defendant states that filing the Request to Seal and the CAR under seal is appropriate 16 given the sensitive nature of the case and the likely relevance of personally identifiable information 17 contained in the CAR as to the adjudication of the claims and defenses. (Id. at 1–2.) Defendant 18 electronically submitted the Request to Seal and the CAR to the Court and states that Plaintiff does 19 not oppose the sealing request. 20 Pursuant to Local Rule 141(b), a request to seal a document “shall set forth the statutory or 21 other authority for sealing, the requested duration, the identity, by name or category, of persons to 22 be permitted access to the documents, and all other relevant information.” L.R. 141(b). “Only if 23 good cause exists may the Court seal the information from public view after balancing ‘the needs 24 for discovery against the need for confidentiality.’” Koloff v. Metro. Life Ins. Co., No. 1:13-cv- 25 02060 AWI JLT, 2014 WL 12573330, at *1 (E.D. Cal. July 9, 2014) (quoting Pintos v. Pac. 26 Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 678 (9th Cir. 2010)). A party may submit an opposition to a request 27 to seal documents within three days of the date of service of the request. L.R. 141(c). 1 Defendant has complied with Local Rule 141, and in view of the sensitive information 2 contained in the Request to Seal and the CAR, the Court finds that good cause exists to allow 3 Defendant to file both documents under seal. 4 Based on the foregoing, the Court GRANTS Defendant’s unopposed Request to Seal (Doc. 5 15), and ORDERS that the CAR and Request to Seal be FILED UNDER SEAL in accordance with 6 Local Rule 141(e)(2). Defendant’s counsel shall comply with Local Rule 141(e)(2)(i) to ensure the 7 documents are filed on the docket under seal. 8 IT IS SO ORDERED. 9 10 Dated: February 9, 2023 /s/ Sheila K. Oberto . UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27