distinguishing 18 “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from 19 “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are part of court 20 record
How later courts described this case
- distinguishing 18 “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from 19 “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are part of court 20 record
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
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2
3
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5
6
7
8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
10
11 ROBERT HOLLIE, an Individual, and Case No.: 2:24-cv-6037-FMO (PVCx)
RODNEY HOLLIE, an Individual,
12
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
13 Plaintiffs, ORDER
14
vs.
15
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, PAUL
16
BESERRA (#512403), and DOES 1
17 through 50, Inclusive.
18
Defendants.
19
20
21 1. INTRODUCTION
22 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
23 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
24 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public
25 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may
26 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to
27 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this
28 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to
1
discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends
2
only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment
3
under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth
4
in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them
5
to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the
6
procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a
7
party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
8
1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
9
This civil action arises out of the arrest of plaintiffs, Rodney Hollie and
10
Robert Hollie on June 1, 2023 by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies.
11
Plaintiffs claim their civil rights were violated when they were unlawfully arrested
12
and subject to unreasonable search and that such was based on fabricated evidence.
13
Plaintiffs also bring state law claims.
14
This action is likely to involve confidential, proprietary, official, and/or
15
private law enforcement and police personnel information for which special
16
protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than
17
prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials
18
and information consist of, among other things, confidential proprietary
19
information/or private personnel police information, confidential information
20
contained in police personnel files, official law enforcement investigative
21
information, including information regarding the criminal history of the Plaintiffs,
22
information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be
23
privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes,
24
court rules, case decisions, or common law.
25
Additionally, the action is likely to involve confidential information
26
regarding Plaintiffs, including medical records and employment records.
27
28
1
Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt
2
resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately
3
protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the
4
parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for
5
and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and
6
serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this
7
matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as
8
confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good
9
faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential.
10
2. DEFINITIONS
11
2.1 Action: Robert Hollie and Rodney Hollie v. County of Los Angeles et
12
al., 2;24-cv-6037-FMO (PVCx).
13
2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the
14
designation of information or items under this Order.
15
2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
16
how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
17
protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in
18
the Good Cause Statement. This also includes (1) any information copied or
19
extracted from the Confidential information; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries,
20
abstracts or compilations of Confidential information; and (3) any testimony,
21
conversations, or presentations that might reveal Confidential information.
22
2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as
23
their support staff).
24
2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information
25
or items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
26
“CONFIDENTIAL.”
27
28
1
2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
2
of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
3
among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced
4
or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
5
2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a
6
matter pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to
7
serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
8
2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this
9
Action. House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other
10
outside counsel.
11
2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association,
12
or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
13
2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a
14
party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action
15
and have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law
16
firm which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
17
2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
18
employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
19
support staffs).
20
2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
21
Discovery Material in this Action.
22
2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation
23
support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
24
demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
25
and their employees and subcontractors.
26
2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
27
designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
28
1
2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery
2
Material from a Producing Party.
3
3. SCOPE
4
The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
5
Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
6
extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
7
compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
8
presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
9
Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the
10
trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
11
4. DURATION
12
Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as
13
confidential or maintained pursuant to this protective order becomes public and
14
will be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press,
15
unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed
16
otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City
17
and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing
18
“good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from
19
“compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are part of court
20
record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the
21
commencement of the trial.
22
5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
23
5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
24
Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under
25
this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that
26
qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate
27
for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written
28
1
communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents,
2
items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept
3
unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
4
Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited.
5
Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an
6
improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process
7
or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the
8
Designating Party to sanctions.
9
If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
10
designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
11
promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
12
5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
13
this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
14
stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
15
under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
16
produced.
17
Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
18
(a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
19
documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
20
proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend
21
“CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
22
contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
23
qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the
24
protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
25
A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
26
need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
27
which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
28
1
before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection will be
2
deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the
3
documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine
4
which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order.
5
Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix
6
the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If
7
only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the
8
Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making
9
appropriate markings in the margins).
10
(b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify the
11
Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition
12
all protected testimony.
13
(c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for
14
any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the
15
exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the
16
legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information
17
warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, will identify the
18
protected portion(s).
19
5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
20
failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive
21
the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such
22
material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make
23
reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the
24
provisions of this Order.
25
6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
26
27
28
1
6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
2
designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
3
Scheduling Order.
4
6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party will initiate the dispute
5
resolution process (and, if necessary, file a discovery motion) under Local Rule
6
37.1 et seq.
7
6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding will be on
8
the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper
9
purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other
10
parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating
11
Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties will
12
continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is
13
entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the
14
challenge.
15
7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
16
7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
17
disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
18
Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
19
Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under
20
the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a
21
Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL
22
DISPOSITION).
23
Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
24
location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
25
authorized under this Order.
26
7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
27
otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
28
1
Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
2
“CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
3
(a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
4
well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
5
necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
6
(b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of
7
the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
8
(c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
9
disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
10
“Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
11
(d) the Court and its personnel;
12
(e) court reporters and their staff;
13
(f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
14
Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
15
signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
16
(g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
17
custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
18
(h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in
19
the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing
20
party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2)
21
they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
22
“Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
23
agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed
24
deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may
25
be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone
26
except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
27
28
1
(i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
2
mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
3
8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
4
PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
5
If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
6
that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
7
“CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
8
(a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification
9
will include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
10
(b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or
11
order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the
12
subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification will
13
include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
14
(c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
15
pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
16
If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served
17
with the subpoena or court order will not produce any information designated in
18
this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which
19
the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s
20
permission. The Designating Party will bear the burden and expense of seeking
21
protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions
22
should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action
23
to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
24
9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
25
PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
26
(a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a
27
Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
28
1
produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
2
remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
3
construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
4
(b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
5
produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
6
subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
7
confidential information, then the Party will:
8
(1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-
9
Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality
10
agreement with a Non-Party;
11
(2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
12
Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
13
specific description of the information requested; and
14
(3) make the information requested available for inspection by the
15
Non-Party, if requested.
16
(c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within
17
14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving
18
Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the
19
discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving
20
Party will not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to
21
the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the
22
court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party will bear the burden
23
and expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
24
10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
25
If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has
26
disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized
27
under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a)
28
1
notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its
2
best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform
3
the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms
4
of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the
5
“Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit
6
A.
7
11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR
8
OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL
9
When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
10
inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other
11
protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal
12
Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify
13
whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for
14
production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence
15
502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure
16
of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or
17
work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the
18
stipulated protective order submitted to the court.
19
12. MISCELLANEOUS
20
12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of
21
any person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
22
12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
23
Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
24
disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in
25
this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on
26
any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective
27
Order.
28
1
12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
2
Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material
3
may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the
4
specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material
5
under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information
6
in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
7
13. FINAL DISPOSITION
8
After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within
9
60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must
10
return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As
11
used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts,
12
compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the
13
Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the
14
Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if
15
not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that
16
(1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was
17
returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any
18
copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or
19
capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel
20
are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial,
21
deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition
22
and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert
23
work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such
24
archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this
25
Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION).
26
27
28
l 14. Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal
2 contempt proceedings, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary
; authorities, or other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court.
4
° FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN BY THE PARTIES’ STIPULATION, IT IS
6 SO ORDERED.
7
8 .
9 || DATED: February 25, 2025 fu We
10 HON. PEDRO V. CASTILLO
United States Magistrate Judge
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
1
EXHIBIT A
2
ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3
4
I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________
5
[full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and
6
understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States
7
District Court for the Central District of California on February ____, 2025 in the
8
case of Robert Hollie and Rodney Hollie v. County of Los Angeles et al., 2;24-cv-
9
6037-FMO (PVCx ). I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of
10
this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to
11
so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt.
12
I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item
13
that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in
14
strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.
15
I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District
16
Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms
17
of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur
18
after termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________
19
[full name] of _______________________________________ [full address and
20
telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection
21
with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated
22
Protective Order.
23
Date: ______________________________________
24
City and State where signed: _________________________________
25
Printed name: _______________________________
26
27
Signature: __________________________________
28