even stipulated protective orders require good cause showing
How later courts described this case
- even stipulated protective orders require good cause showing
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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11 AERRIN LOUIE, OLIVER Case No.: 8:25-CV-00025-MRA (JDEx)
ORTEGA, DANIEL PINEDA,
12 MICHAEL JUAREZ and JORDAN
DIAZ, Assigned to: Hon. Monica Ramirez
13 Almadani
Plaintiffs, Dept.: 10B
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v. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
15 ORDER
CITY OF ANAHEIM, OFFICER K.
16 SMITH, OFFICER J. CARTER, Action Filed: January 7, 2025
AND DOE OFFICERS 1-10, Trial Date: June 1, 2025
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Defendants.
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1 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
2 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 pursuing this litigation may
5 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court
6 to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that
7 this 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
9 extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential
10 treatment under the applicable legal principles.
11 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
12 This action is likely to involve production of private and sensitive
13 information relating to law enforcement officers, police department policies, and
14 Plaintiffs’ personal, medical, or emotional health information, all of which are
15 entitled to special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose
16 other than this action. Such confidential and sensitive materials and information
17 may consist of, among other things: law enforcement personnel records; internal
18 investigations and use-of-force reviews; confidential departmental training
19 materials and procedures; and Plaintiffs’ medical and psychological records that
20 are otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal law. Disclosure of
21 this information could risk unwarranted public scrutiny or harm to the privacy
22 interests of parties and non-parties, including law enforcement officers and
23 witnesses. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the
24 prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to
25 adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to
26 ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in
27 preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of
28 the litigation, and to serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such
1 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that
2 information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that
3 nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained
4 in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not
5 be part of the public record of this case.
6 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING
7 PROCEDURE
8 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that
9 this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential
10 information under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must
11 be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission
12 from the court to file material under seal. There is a strong presumption that the
13 public has a right of access to judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In
14 connection with non-dispositive motions, good cause must be shown to support a
15 filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172,
16 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th
17 Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D.
18 Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders require good cause showing), and a
19 specific showing of good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary
20 support and legal justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material
21 that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure
22 or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not— without the submission
23 of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the material sought to be
24 filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—
25 constitute good cause.
26 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial,
27 then compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown,
28 and the relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be
1 protected. See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir.
2 2010). For each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be
3 filed or introduced under seal, the party seeking protection must articulate
4 compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the
5 requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application to
6 file documents under seal must be provided by declaration.
7 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable
8 in its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be
9 redacted. If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public
10 viewing, omitting only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable
11 portions of the document, shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file
12 documents under seal in their entirety should include an explanation of why
13 redaction is not feasible.
14 4. DEFINITIONS
15 4.1 Action:
16 4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the
17 designation of information or items under this Order.
18 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information
19 (regardless of how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that
20 qualify for protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as
21 specified above in the Good Cause Statement.
22 4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as
23 well as their support staff).
24 4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates
25 information or items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery
26 as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
27 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information,
28 regardless of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or
1 maintained (including, among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible
2 things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery.
3 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in
4 a matter pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel
5 to serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
6 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to
7 this Action. House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any
8 other outside counsel.
9 4.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation,
10 association or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
11 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees
12 of a party to this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and
13 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law
14 firm that has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
15 4.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers,
16 directors, employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of
17 Record (and their support staffs).
18 4.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces
19 Disclosure or Discovery Material in this Action.
20 4.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide
21 litigation support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing
22 exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any
23 form or medium) and their employees and subcontractors.
24 4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that
25 is designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
26 4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or
27 Discovery Material from a Producing Party.
28 / / /
1 5. SCOPE
2 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
3 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
4 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
5 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
6 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
7 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of
8 the trial judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the
9 use of Protected Material at trial.
10 6. DURATION
11 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as
12 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or
13 introduced as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively
14 available to all members of the public, including the press, unless compelling
15 reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to
16 the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81
17 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in
18 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents
19 are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not
20 extend beyond the commencement of the trial.
21 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
22 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for
23 Protection. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for
24 protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to
25 specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating
26 Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents,
27 items or oral or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the
28 material, documents, items or communications for which protection is not
1 warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
2 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited.
3 Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for
4 an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development
5 process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may
6 expose the Designating Party to sanctions.
7 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that
8 it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party
9 must promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable
10 designation.
11 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise
12 provided in this Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of
13 Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly
14 so designated before the material is disclosed or produced.
15 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
16 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
17 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
18 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend
19 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each
20 page that contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a
21 page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly
22 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in
23 the margins).
24 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for
25 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting
26 Party has indicated which documents it would like copied and produced.
27 During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made
28 available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the
1 inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and
2 produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or
3 portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before
4 producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the
5 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material.
6 If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the
7 Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by
8 making appropriate markings in the margins).
9 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party
10 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the
11 close of the deposition all protected testimony.
12 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary
13 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a
14 prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the
15 information is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or
16 portions of the information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the
17 extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s).
18 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an
19 inadvertent failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing
20 alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order
21 for such material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party
22 must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance
23 with the provisions of this Order.
24 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
25 8.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge
26 a designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
27 Scheduling Order.
28 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the
1 dispute resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq.
2 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall
3 be via a joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2.
4 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding
5 shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an
6 improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens
7 on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the
8 Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all
9 parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to
10 which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules
11 on the challenge.
12 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
13 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected
14 Material that is disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in
15 connection with this Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to
16 settle this Action. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the
17 categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the
18 Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions
19 of section 15 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).
20 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at
21 a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the
22 persons authorized under this Order.
23 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items.
24 Unless otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the
25 Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item
26 designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
27 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action,
28 as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is
1 reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
2 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel)
3 of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this
4 Action;
5 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to
6 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
7 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
8 (d) the court and its personnel;
9 (e) court reporters and their staff;
10 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and
11 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this
12 Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be
13 Bound” (Exhibit A);
14 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information
15 or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the
16 information;
17 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses,
18 in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the
19 deposing party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit
20 A hereto; and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any confidential
21 information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be
22 Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or
23 ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits
24 to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by
25 the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted
26 under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
27 / / /
28 / / /
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2 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting
3 personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in
4 settlement discussions.
5 10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
6 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
7 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other
8 litigation that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this
9 Action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
10 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such
11 notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
12 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or
13 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered
14 by the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such
15 notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
16 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
17 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be
18 affected. If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party
19 served with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information
20 designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by
21 the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has
22 obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall
23 bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of its
24 confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed
25 as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a
26 lawful directive from another court.
27 / / /
28 / / /
1 11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
2 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
3 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced
4 by a Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such
5 information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is
6 protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in
7 these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from
8 seeking additional protections.
9 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request,
10 to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and
11 the Party is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the
12 Non-Party’s confidential information, then the Party shall:
13 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the
14 Non-Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a
15 confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party;
16 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the
17 Stipulated Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery
18 request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the information
19 requested; and
20 (3) make the information requested available for inspection
21 by the Non-Party, if requested.
22 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this
23 court within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying
24 information, the Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s
25 confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-
26 Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not
27 produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the
28 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by
1 the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the
2 burden and expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected
3 Material.
4 12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED
5 MATERIAL
6 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 (a)
9 notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its
10 best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c)
11 inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all
12 the terms of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the
13 “Acknowledgment an Agreement to Be Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A.
14 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR
15 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL
16 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
17 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other
18 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal
19 Rule of Civil\ Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify
20 whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for
21 production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence
22 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of
23 disclosure of a communication or information covered by the attorney-client
24 privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement
25 in the stipulated protective order submitted to the court.
26 / / /
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1 14. MISCELLANEOUS
2 14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the
3 right of any person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
4 14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry
5 of this Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to
6 object to disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not
7 addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any
8 right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by
9 this Protective Order.
10 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal
11 any Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected
12 Material may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the
13 sealing of the specific Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected
14 Material under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the
15 information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
16 15. FINAL DISPOSITION
17 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within
18 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must
19 return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As
20 used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts,
21 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of
22 the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed,
23 the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party
24 (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day
25 deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected
26 Material that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party
27 has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other
28 format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding
1 || this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings,
2 || motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda,
3 || correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work
4 || product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain
5 || Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected
6 || Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 6
7 || (DURATION).
8 16. VIOLATION
9 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures
10 || including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.
1]
12 BASED ON THE PARTIES’ STIPULATION AND FOR GOOD CAUSE
13 || SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
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16 || DATED: May 15, 2025
17 je de
18 Lhe
19 HN D. EARLY
United States Magistrate Judge
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1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3 I, ______________________________________ [print or type full name],
4 of _________________________________________ [print or type full address],
5 declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the
6 Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court
7 for the Central District of California in the case of: Louie et al. v. City of
8 Anaheim et al., Case No. 8:25-CV-00025-MRA.
9 I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated
10 Protective Order, and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply
11 could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I
12 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 the 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.
19 I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name]
20 of ______________________________________________________________
21 [print or type full address and telephone number] as my California agent for
22 service of process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to
23 enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order.
24
25 Date: ___________________________
26 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________
27 Printed name: _____________________________________________________
28 Signature: ________________________________________________________