Langford v. Baker ( 2023 )

1 2 3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 4 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 5 *** 6 JUSTIN ODELL LANGFORD, Case No. 3:19-cv-00594-MMD-CSD 7 Petitioner, ORDER v. 8 WARDEN RENEE BAKER, et al., 9 Respondents. 10 11 Before the Court is Petitioner’s Motion for Leave to File Documents Under Seal. 12 (ECF No. 124.) Petitioner seeks leave to file under seal two documents in the index of 13 exhibits in support of his first amended petition: Exhibit 17, SNCAC Clinic Assessment of 14 H.H., the alleged victim (ECF No. 125-1), and Exhibit 18, Petition—Abuse/Neglect filed 15 by the state in family court seeking custody of H.H. and her younger sister (ECF No. 125- 16 2). 17 Under Nevada law, juvenile justice records and information maintained by child 18 welfare agencies are to be kept confidential. See NRS § 62H.025(1); NRS § 432B.280. 19 In addition, the need to protect medical privacy generally qualifies as a “compelling 20 reason” for sealing records in connection with a dispositive motion. E.g., Abbey v. Hawaii 21 Emp’rs Mut. Ins. Co. (HEMIC), 760 F. Supp. 2d 1005, 1013 (D. Haw. 2010). Here, Exhibit 22 17 includes a physical assessment of a juvenile, which contains sensitive private 23 information. 24 Having reviewed and considered the matter in accordance with Kamakana v. City 25 and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172 (9th Cir. 2006), and its progeny, the Court finds 26 that a compelling need to protect the safety, privacy, and/or personal identifying 27 information of the juvenile alleged victim, H.H., outweighs the public interest in open 1 It is therefore ordered that Petitioner's Motion for Leave to File Documents Under 2 || Seal. (ECF No. 124) is granted. Exhibits 17 (ECF No. 125-1) and 18 (ECF No. 125-2) are 3 || considered properly filed under seal. 4 DATED THIS 12" Day of December 2023. AGN 6 MIRANDA M. DU 7 CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28