(PC) Coleman v. Newsom ( 2023 )

1 ROB BONTA, State Bar No. 202668 HANSON BRIDGETT LLP Attorney General of California PAUL B. MELLO, SBN 179755 2 MONICA N. ANDERSON, State Bar No. 182970 SAMANTHA D. WOLFF, SBN 240280 Senior Assistant Attorney General KAYLEN KADOTANI, SBN 294114 3 DAMON MCCLAIN, State Bar No. 209508 LAUREL O'CONNOR, SBN 305478 Supervising Deputy Attorney General DAVID C. CASARRUBIAS, SBN 321994 4 ELISE OWENS THORN, State Bar No. 145931 CARSON R. NIELLO, SBN 329970 NAMRATA KOTWANI, State Bar No. 308741 1676 N. California Boulevard, Suite 620 5 Deputy Attorneys General Walnut Creek, CA 94596 1300 I Street, Suite 125 Telephone: (925) 746-8460 6 P.O. Box 944255 Fax: (925) 746-8490 Sacramento, CA 94244-2550 E-mail: PMello@hansonbridgett.com 7 Telephone: (916) 210-7318 Attorneys for Defendants Fax: (916) 324-5205 8 E-mail: Elise.Thorn@doj.ca.gov Attorneys for Defendants 9 10 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 11 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 12 SACRAMENTO DIVISION 13 14 RALPH COLEMAN, et al., Case No. 2:90-cv-00520 KJM-DB (PC) 15 Plaintiffs, STIPULATION AND ORDER 16 GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ REQUEST v. TO FILE 2022 SUICIDE REPORTS 17 UNDER SEAL PURSUANT TO LOCAL RULE 141 18 GAVIN NEWSOM, et al., 19 Defendants. Judge: The Hon. Kimberly J. Mueller 20 21 On July 25, 2022, the court adopted in full the California Department of Corrections and 22 Rehabilitation’s (CDCR) Annual Suicide Report Proposal for Assuming the Annual Suicide 23 Monitoring Report. (ECF No. 7574 and ECF No. 7592.) As required by the proposal, CDCR 24 filed its 2022 Report on Suicides on October 24, 2023. (ECF No. 8027.) The proposal also 25 requires CDCR to submit the individual suicide reports for suicides completed in 2022 to the 26 Special Master and Plaintiffs under separate cover and conditionally lodge them under seal. (ECF 27 No. 7574 at 15.) Defendants therefore submit this request consistent with their proposal. 28 1 REQUEST TO SEAL DOCUMENTS 2 Under Local Rule 141, documents may be filed under seal only by written order of the 3 court upon the showing required by applicable law. A party seeking to seal a document must 4 submit a request to the court indicating the statutory or other authority for sealing. The court may 5 properly seal records from disclosure to the public if the party submitting the records articulates 6 compelling reasons to do so. Kamakana v. City & Cnty. Of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th 7 Cir. 2006). On February 25, 2020, this Court ordered that “[t]he provisions of Local Rule 141(c) 8 notwithstanding, all requests to seal documents shall be accompanied by a stipulation of all 9 counsel consenting to the sealing request.” (Protective Order, ECF No. 6482 at 3.) 10 Defendants request that the Court seal the nineteen individual suicide reports, 567 pages 11 in total, attached as Exhibits A through S to the enclosed letter from CDCR, that were submitted 12 to the Special Master and Plaintiffs under separate cover, as required under the proposal. (ECF 13 No. 7574 at 15.) Defendants request, and Plaintiffs agree, that these documents be filed under 14 seal because they contain identifying information that is sensitive, private, confidential, and 15 subject to the protective order entered in this action on February 25, 2020. (Protective Order, 16 ECF No. 6482.) The nineteen suicide reports were provided to the Court by electronic mail 17 concurrently with the submission of this stipulation and [proposed] order. 18 If the Court approves this stipulated request to file under seal, Defendants will file the 19 letter and reports in sealed form to protect the privacy of the incarcerated persons referenced in 20 the reports. 21 In light of the foregoing, the parties request that the Court seal the nineteen individual 22 suicide reports indefinitely, and that only the Court, authorized court personnel, Plaintiffs’ 23 counsel, Defendants, and Defendants' counsel be permitted access to these documents. 24 Nothing in this stipulation is intended to modify the Parties’ rights to use the information in 25 the nineteen individual suicide reports in a manner consistent with the protective orders 26 applicable in this case. 27 IT IS SO STIPULATED. 28 1 DATED: November 27, 2023 ROB BONTA Attorney General of California 2 DAMON MCCLAIN Supervising Deputy Attorney General 3 4 By: /s/ Elise Owens Thorn 5 ELISE OWENS THORN Deputy Attorney General 6 7 Attorneys for Defendants 8 9 DATED: November 27, 2023 Respectfully submitted, 10 ROSEN BIEN GALVAN & GRUNFELD LLP 11 By: /s/ Michael Nunez 12 13 Attorneys for Plaintiffs 14 15 ORDER 16 The Court, having considered Defendants’ request and the parties’ stipulation, and 17 good cause appearing, hereby grants Defendants’ request to file the individual suicide 18 reports under seal. 19 IT IS SO ORDERED. 20 DATED: November 29, 2023. 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28