distinguishing “good cause” 8 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 9 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record
How later courts described this case
- distinguishing “good cause” 8 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 9 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
1 Cchhrriissttiiaann@ Fl.a Pwecrfepir.cao (mSB N: 251599)
2
Ian A. Cuthbertson (SBN: 325591)
3 ian@lawcfp.com
PEREIRA LAW
4
249 E. Ocean Blvd., Suite 814
5 Long Beach, CA 90802
T: (714)482-6301
6
F: (714)482-6302
7
Attorneys for Plaintiff
8 Oscar Granados
9 Susan E. Coleman (SBN 171832)
E-mail: scoleman@bwslaw.com
10 Martin Kosla (SBN 247224)
E-mail: mkosla@bwslaw.com
11 BURKE, WILLIAMS & SORENSEN, LLP
444 South Flower Street, Suite 2400
12 Los Angeles, CA 90071-2953
Tel: 213.236.0600 Fax: 213.236.2700
13
Attorneys for Defendants
14 CITY OF GARDEN GROVE; THE GEO GROUP, INC.;
ROXANNE MENDOZA; and ANNA ALCARAZ
15
16 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
17 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
18
OSCAR GRANADOS, an individual, ) Case No.: 20-cv-00478-DOC-DFM
19 ) Related to 20-cv-00486-DOC-DFM
)
20 Plaintiff, )
) STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
21 )
v. ) ORDER
22 )
23
THE GEO GROUP, Inc., CITY OF ) )
GARDEN GROVE ROXANNE )
24 MENDOZA, ANNA ALCARAZ; and DOES )
)
25 1 to 10, inclusive, )
)
)
26 Defendants. )
)
27 )
)
28
1 I. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
2 A. Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
3 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public
4 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may
5 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to
6 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this
7 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to
8 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends
9 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment
10 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth
11 in Section XIII(C), below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them
12 to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the
13 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party
14 seeks permission from the Court to file material under seal.
15 II. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
16 A. Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of materials that
17 are deemed (i) the disclosure of which could endanger the safety of the parties
18 involved (e.g. Defendants, detainees), as well as potentially the security of the
19 Garden Grove Jail facility; (ii) proprietary; and/or (iii) private information for which
20 special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than
21 prosecuting the claims may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate
22 to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The
23 parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all
24 disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public
25 disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled
26 to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles.
27 ///
28 ///
1 III. DEFINITIONS
2 A. Action: The adjudication of Oscar Granados’ claim against the GEO
3 GROUP, Inc., The City of Garden Grove, Anna Alcaraz, Roxanne Mendoza and any
4 other potential defendants.
5 B. Challenging Party: A Party or Non-Party that challenges the
6 designation of information or items under this Order.
7 C. “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Information (regardless of
8 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
9 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in
10 the Good Cause Statement.
11 D. Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as
12 their support staff).
13 E. Designating Party: A Party or Non-Party that designates information
14 or items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
15 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
16 F. Disclosure or Discovery Material: All items or information, regardless
17 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
18 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
19 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
20 G. Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
21 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
22 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
23 H. House Counsel: Attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
24 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
25 counsel.
26 I. Non-Party: Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association,
27 or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
28
1 J. Outside Counsel of Record: Attorneys who are not employees of a
2 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and
3 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm
4 which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
5 K. Party: Any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
6 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
7 support staffs).
8 L. Producing Party: A Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
9 Discovery Material in this Action.
10 M. Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation
11 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
12 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
13 and their employees and subcontractors.
14 N. Protected Material: Any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
15 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
16 O. Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery
17 Material from a Producing Party.
18 IV. SCOPE
19 A. The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
20 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
21 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
22 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
23 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
24 B. Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders
25 of the trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at
26 trial.
27 ///
28 ///
1 V. DURATION
2 Once the action proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as
3 confidential or maintained pursuant to this Protective Order becomes public and will
4 be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless
5 compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are
6 made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of
7 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause”
8 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons”
9 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the
10 terms of this Protective Order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.
11 VI. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
12 A. Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection
13 1. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for
14 protection under this Order must take care to limit any such
15 designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate
16 standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection only
17 those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written
18 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material,
19 documents, items, or communications for which protection is not
20 warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
21 2. Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited.
22 Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have
23 been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber
24 the case development process or to impose unnecessary expenses
25 and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to
26 sanctions.
27 3. If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or
28 items that it designated for protection do not qualify for protection,
1 that Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it
2 is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
3 B. Manner and Timing of Designations
4 1. Except as otherwise provided in this Order (see, e.g., Section
5 B(2)(b) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or
6 Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order
7 must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
8 produced.
9 2. Designation in conformity with this Order requires the following:
10 a. For information in documentary form (e.g., paper or
11 electronic documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions
12 or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party
13 affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL”
14 (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
15 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of
16 the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing
17 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g.,
18 by making appropriate markings in the margins).
19 b. A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents
20 available for inspection need not designate them for
21 protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which
22 documents it would like copied and produced. During the
23 inspection and before the designation, all of the material made
24 available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.”
25 After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it
26 wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must
27 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for
28 protection under this Order. Then, before producing the
1 specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the
2 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains
3 Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the
4 material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing
5 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g.,
6 by making appropriate markings in the margins).
7 c. For testimony given in depositions, that the Designating Party
8 identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record,
9 before the close of the deposition all protected testimony.
10 d. For information produced in form other than document and
11 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in
12 a prominent place on the exterior of the container or
13 containers in which the information is stored the legend
14 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the
15 information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the
16 extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s).
17 C. Inadvertent Failure to Designate
18 1. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to designate qualified
19 information or items does not, standing alone, waive the
20 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for
21 such material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the
22 Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the
23 material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order.
24 VII. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
25 A. Timing of Challenges
26 1. Any party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of
27 confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
28 Scheduling Order.
1 B. Meet and Confer
2 1. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process
3 under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.
4 C. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on
5 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper
6 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other
7 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating
8 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall
9 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is
10 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the
11 challenge.
12 VIII. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
13 A. Basic Principles
14 1. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or
15 produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
16 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this
17 Action. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the
18 categories of persons and under the conditions described in this
19 Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party
20 must comply with the provisions of Section XIV below.
21 2. Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving
22 Party at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is
23 limited to the persons authorized under this Order.
24 B. Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items
25 1. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the
26 Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information
27 or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
28
1 a. The Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this
2 Action, as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of
3 Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the
4 information for this Action;
5 b. The officers, directors, and employees (including House
6 Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is
7 reasonably necessary for this Action;
8 c. Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to
9 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and
10 who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be
11 Bound” (Exhibit A);
12 d. The Court and its personnel;
13 e. Court reporters and their staff;
14 f. Professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and
15 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably
16 necessary or this Action and who have signed the
17 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to be Bound” attached as
18 Exhibit A hereto;
19 g. The author or recipient of a document containing the
20 information or a custodian or other person who otherwise
21 possessed or knew the information;
22 h. During their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for
23 witnesses, in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably
24 necessary provided: (i) the deposing party requests that the
25 witness sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be
26 Bound;” and (ii) they will not be permitted to keep any
27 confidential information unless they sign the
28 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound,” unless
1 otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the
2 Court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits
3 to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be
4 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be
5 disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated
6 Protective Order; and
7 i. Any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting
8 personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties
9 engaged in settlement discussions.
10 IX. PROTECTED MATIERAL SUPOENAED OR ORDERED
11 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
12 A. If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other
13 litigation that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this
14 Action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
15 1. Promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification
16 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
17 2. Promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or
18 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material
19 covered by the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order.
20 Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective
21 Order; and
22 3. Cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
23 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be
24 affected.
25 B. If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party
26 served with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information
27 designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the Court
28 from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the
1 Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and
2 expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing
3 in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving
4 Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
5 X. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATIERAL SOUGHT TO BE
6 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
7 A. The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a
8 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
9 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
10 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
11 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
12 B. In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
13 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
14 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
15 confidential information, then the Party shall:
16 1. Promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
17 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a
18 confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party;
19 2. Promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
20 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s),
21 and a reasonably specific description of the information requested;
22 and
23 3. Make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-
24 Party, if requested.
25 C. If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within
26 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party
27 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery
28 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall
1 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the
2 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court.
3 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense
4 of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
5 XI. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
6 A. If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has
7 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized
8 under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (1)
9 notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (2) use its
10 best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (3) inform
11 the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms
12 of this Order, and (4) request such person or persons to execute the
13 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit
14 A.
15 XII. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR
16 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL
17 A. When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
18 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
19 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
20 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
21 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior
22 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as
23 the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
24 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
25 parties may incorporate their agreement in the Stipulated Protective Order submitted
26 to the Court.
27 ///
28 ///
1 XIII. MISCELLANEOUS
2 A. Right to Further Relief
3 1. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to seek its
4 modification by the Court in the future.
5 B. Right to Assert Other Objections
6 1. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective Order, no Party waives
7 any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or
8 producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in
9 this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any
10 right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the
11 material covered by this Protective Order.
12 C. Filing Protected Material
13 1. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material must
14 comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be
15 filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of
16 the specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file
17 Protected Material under seal is denied by the Court, then the
18 Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless
19 otherwise instructed by the Court.
20 XIV. FINAL DISPOSITION
21 A. After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in Section V, within
22 sixty (60) days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party
23 must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material.
24 As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts,
25 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the
26 Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the
27 Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if
28 not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that
1 (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was
2 returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any
3 copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or
4 capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel
5 are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial,
6 deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition
7 and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert
8 work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival
9 copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective
10 Order as set forth in Section V.
11 B. Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate
12 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
13 sanctions.
14
15 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
16
17 Dated: June 22, 2020 PEREIRA LAW
18
19
/s/ Christian F. Pereira
20
Christian F. Pereira
21 Ian A. Cuthbertson
Attorneys for Plaintiff
22
OSCAR GRANADOS
23
24
25
26
27
28
1 || Dated: June 22, 2020 BURKE, WILLIAMS & SORENSEN, LLP
2
3 By: /s/ Martin Kosla
Susan E. Coleman
4 Martin Kosla
5 Attorneys for Defendants
CITY OF GARDEN GROVE and THE
6 GEO GROUP, INC.
7
8
? Pursuant to Local Rule 5-4.3.4 (a)(2)q), the filers of this report attest that all
10 |! other signatories listed, and on whose behalf the filing is submitted, concur in the
filing’s content and have authorized the filing.
12
'S ll FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
14
15
Dated: June 25, 2020 +
16
7 HON. UGLAS F. MCCORMICK
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
15
1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3 I, [print or type full name], of
4 [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have
5 read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issue by
6 the United States District Court for the Central District of California on [DATE] in
7 the case of [insert formal name of the case and the
8 number and initials assigned to it by the Court]. I agree to comply with and to be
9 bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and
10 acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment
11 in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner
12 any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any
13 person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.
14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court
15 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this
16 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after
17 termination of this action. I hereby appoint [print or
18 type full name] of [print or type full address and
19 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with
20 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective
21 Order.
22
23 Date:
24 City and State where sworn and signed:
25 Printed Name:
26 Signature:
27
28