L.V.Q. v. The GEO Group, Inc. ( 2024 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 L.V.Q., CASE NO. 1:22-cv-0656-KES-CDB 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO SEAL AND DIRECTING CLERK OF THE 13 v. COURT TO SEAL FILING 14 THE GEO GROUP, INC., ORDER DIRECTING PLAINTIFF TO FILE REDACTED PRO HAC VICE APPLICATION 15 Defendant. (Docs. 18, 23) 16 3-Day Deadline 17 18 On October 4, 2024, proposed counsel for Plaintiff L.V.Q. filed an application seeking pro hac 19 vice admission. (Doc. 18). On October 11, 2024, the Court granted the application and noted that pro 20 hac vice counsel had disclosed in her application the full name of Plaintiff, notwithstanding the Court’s 21 earlier grant of Plaintiff’s motion to proceed via pseudonym. (Doc. 19 at n.1). 22 Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s ex parte application to seal. (Doc. 23). In the application, 23 counsel for Plaintiff represents that identification of Plaintiff’s full name in the pro hac vice application 24 was made “inadvertently.” Id. at 2. Counsel for Plaintiff requests the Court order the application 25 identifying the Plaintiff by name to be sealed and respsents that counsel “simultaneously is filing a 26 corrected application.” Id. 27 Although Plaintiff’s application to seal does not comply with Local Rule 141 in all respects and 28 1 |} was not accompanied by a correcting application, the Court finds in the interests of justice Plaintiff may 2 || be relieved of her deficiencies in complying with these obligations. 3 Pursuant to Local Rule 141(b) and based upon the representations contained in Plaintiff's motion 4 || to seal (Doc. 23), IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the “Pro Hac Vice Application” filed on October 4, 5 || 2024 (Doc. 18), shall be SEALED until further order of this Court. 6 The Court has considered the factors set forth in Oregonian Publ’g Co. v. U.S. Dist. Court for 7 || Dist. of Or., 920 F.2d 1462 (9th Cir. 1990). The Court finds that, for the reasons stated in Plaintiff's 8 || motion, sealing the pro hac vice application serves a compelling interest. The Court further finds that, in 9 || the absence of closure, the compelling interests identified by Plaintiff in her motion to proceed by 10 || pseudonym (Doc. 2) would be harmed. In light of Plaintiff's noticed intent to file a corrected 11 || application that presumably identifies Plaintiff only by the pseudonym (Doc. 23), the Court further finds 12 || that there are no additional alternatives to sealing the pro hac vice application that would adequately 13 || protect the compelling interests identified by Plaintiff. 14 || Conclusion and Order 15 Accordingly, Plaintiff's motion (Doc. 23) to file the pro hac vice application under seal is 16 |} GRANTED, and the Clerk of the Court is DIRECTED to seal the pro hac vice application (Doc. 18). 17 Further, within three (3) days of entry of this order, Plaintiff SHALL FILE a corrected pro hac 18 || vice application that identifies Plaintiff only by the approve pseudonym (“L.V.Q.”). 19 ll TT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: _ October 28, 2024 | br Pr 21 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 22 23 24 25 26 27 28