Opinion

Court: District Court, C.D. California
Filed: Jan 7, 2026
Cited by: 0 cases

The opinion

1 ROBERT R. POWELL, SBN: 159747

2 POWELL & ASSOCIATES

925 West Hedding Street

3 San Jose, California 95126

4 T: 408-553-0200 F: 408-553-0201

E: admin@rrpassociates.com

Attorney for Plaintiffs

9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

10 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

12 JESSICA RAMOS, individually and as Case No.: 5:24-cv-01971-JGB-DTB

Guardian ad Litem for A.R., a minor,

and N.R., a minor,

14 Plaintiffs, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE

v. ORDER

COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO,

16 EIMMY KAFKA, SHARON

GONZALEZ, RICHARD MEZA,

17 DOES1-5,

Defendants.

20 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS

21 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,

22 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure

23 and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted.

24 Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the

25 following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does

26 not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the

27 protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited

1 information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable

2 legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below,

3 that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential

4 information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be

5 followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the

6 court to file material under seal.

B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

This action is likely to involve juvenile dependency case file records (CRC

5.552 – defining “juvenile case file”), and communications of parties related to the

events and circumstances described in the Complaint on file in this action, as well

as an unknown number of documents / writings / evidence in possession of law

enforcement agencies, which are or may be otherwise generally unavailable to the

public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under

state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law.

Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt

resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately

protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the

parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for

and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and

to serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in

this matter.

It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as

confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good

faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there

is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case.

1 2. DEFINITIONS

2 2.1 Action: Refers to this litigation / lawsuit.

3 2.2 “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” Information or Items: Information

4 (regardless of how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify

5 for a higher protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified

6 above in the Good Cause Statement. The designation of “ATTORNEYS’ EYES

7 ONLY” shall be limited to sensitive personal information, that if improperly disclosed

8 to another party in this litigation, could cause potential harm the Producing Party.

9 Because the designation of information as “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” is more

10 restrictive on disclosure and may interfere with the discovery process, designations

11 should be used infrequently and minimally. The “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY”

12 designation shall be limited to the following information: private financial information

13 of the individual parties. Nothing in this definition, nor any provision of this Stipulated

14 Protective Order, is intended to constitute a waiver of any party’s right to challenge an

15 “ATTORNEY EYES ONLY” designation in the future and seek an Order of the Court

16 presiding over this action to have such designation removed.

17 Further, these provisions, like all others herein, are subject to the terms of

18 paragraph “4. DURATION.”

19 2.3 Challenging Party: A Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of

20 information or items under this Order.

21 2.4 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Information (regardless of how

22 it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection

23 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause

24 Statement.

25 2.5 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their

26 support staff).

27 2.6 Designating Party: A Party or Non-Party that designates information or items

1 that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.”

2 2.7 Disclosure or Discovery Material: All items or information, regardless of the

3 medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among

4 other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated

5 in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.

6 2.8 Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter

7 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an

8 expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.

9 2.9 House Counsel: Attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. House

10 Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel.

11 2.10 Non-Party: Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or

12 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.

13 2.11 Outside Counsel of Record: Attorneys who are not employees of a party to

14 this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have

15 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which

16 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.

17 2.12 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 2.13 Producing Party: A Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or

21 Discovery Material in this Action.

22 2.14 Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation support

23 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or

24 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and

25 their employees and subcontractors.

26 2.15 Protected Material: Any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated

27 as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY.”

1 2.16 Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material

2 from a Producing Party.

3. SCOPE

The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected

Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from

Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected

Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their

Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.

Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial

judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.

12 4. DURATION

13 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as

14 confidential or maintained pursuant to this protective order becomes public and will be

15 presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless

16 compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are

17 made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of

18 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause”

19 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons”

20 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the

21 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.

5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.

Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under

this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that

qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for

1 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written

2 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items,

3 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably

4 within the ambit of this Order. The Party or Non-Party which designates information

5 or items under protection must specifically state which designation is being asserted,

6 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.”

7 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that

8 are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose

9 (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose

10 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party

11 to sanctions.

12 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it

13 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must

14 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.

15 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this

16 Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated

17 or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this

18 Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced.

19 Designation in conformity with this Order requires the following:

20 (a) For information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents,

21 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the

22 Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” or

23 “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY,” as coincides with the designation, (hereinafter

24 “LEGEND”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a portion or

25 portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also

26 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in

27 the margins).

1 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection

2 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated

3 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before

4 the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed

5 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY,” as applies. After the

6 inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the

7 Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for

8 protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the

9 Producing Party must affix the “LEGEND” to each page that contains Protected

10 Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection,

11 the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making

12 appropriate markings in the margins).

13 (b) For testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies

14 Disclosure or Discovery Material which Designating Party deems “CONFIDENTIAL”

15 or “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” on the record, before the close of the deposition all

16 protected testimony.

17 (c) For information produced in some form other than documentary and for any

18 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior

19 of the container or containers in which the information is stored the “LEGEND”

20 “CONFIDENTIAL” OR “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” If only a portion or portions

21 of the information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable,

22 shall identify the protected portion(s).

23 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure

24 to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the

25 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon

26 timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to

27 assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order.

1 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

2 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation

3 of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order.

4 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution

5 process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.

6 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the

7 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g.,

8 to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose

9 the Challenging Party to sanctions. If a Party of Non-Party prevails on a challenge, that

10 party shall be awarded reasonable attorney fees, and in the discretion of the Court,

11 monetary and/or evidence sanctions as well. Unless the Designating Party has waived

12 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the

13 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing

14 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.

7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is

disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this

Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such

Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the

conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving

Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).

Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location

and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the person’s authorized

under this Order.

7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise

ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving

1 Party may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:

2 (a) The Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as

3 employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to

4 disclose the information for this Action;

5 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the

6 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;

7 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure

8 is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment

9 and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);

10 (d) the court and its personnel;

11 (e) court reporters and their staff;

12 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional

13 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have

14 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);

15 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a

16 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;

17 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the Action

18 to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) The deposing party requests

19 that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit 1 hereto; and (2) they will not be

20 permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment

21 and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating

22 Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to

23 depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by the court

24 reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated

25 Protective Order; and

26 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually

27 agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.

1 7.3. Disclosure of “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” Information.

2 Unless otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating

3 Party, the attorney of record for the Receiving Party may not disclose any information

4 or item designated “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” to anyone.

8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED

IN OTHER LITIGATION

If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that

compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as

“CONFIDENTIAL” or “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” that Party must:

(a) Promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall

include a copy of the subpoena or court order;

(b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to

issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or

order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this

Stipulated Protective Order; and

the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the Designating

Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena or court order

shall not produce any information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” or

“ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” before a determination by the court from which the

subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s

permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking

protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions

should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to

disobey a lawful directive from another court.

9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE

1 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

2 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-

3 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “ATTORNEYS’ EYES

4 ONLY.” Such information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation

5 is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these

6 provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional

7 protections. Nothing in these provisions limit any other party from challenging such

8 designations, and if prevailing on a challenge, the Court shall award reasonable

9 attorney fees.

10 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce

11 a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an

12 agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information,

13 then the Party shall:

14 (1) Promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party

15 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement

16 with a Non-Party;

17 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated

18 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably

19 specific description of the information requested; and

20 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-

21 Party, if requested.

22 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14

23 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may

24 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request.

25 If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce

26 any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality

27 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court

1 order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking

2 protection in this court of its Protected Material.

3 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

4 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed

5 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this

6 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing

7 the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve

8 all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to

9 whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d)

10 request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be

11 Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.

11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE

PROTECTED MATERIAL

When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently

produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations

of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure

26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be

established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior privilege

review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties

reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or information

covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the parties may

incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted to the court.

24 12. MISCELLANEOUS

25 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any

26 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.

27 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this

1 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to

2 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this

3 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any

4 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.

5 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected

6 Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be

7 filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific

8 Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material under seal is

9 denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public

10 record unless otherwise instructed by the court.

13. FINAL DISPOSITION

After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 days

of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all

Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this

subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,

summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected

Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party

must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person

or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by

category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed

and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts,

compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the

Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an

archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts,

legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports,

attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials

contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute

1 || Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4

(DURATION).

3 14, Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate measures

4 including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.

5 15. Nothing in this Stipulated Protective Order is intended as a waiver of any party’s

6 right to request public use of any documents or other materials produced which are

7 covered within the terms of this Order by designation or otherwise.

9|| ITIS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.

11 || Date: 1/7/2026 /S/ Julian V. Lee

DOUGLAS C. SMITH

12 JULIAN V. LEE

Attorneys for Defendants

Date: 1/7/2026 /S/ Robert R. Powell

15 ROBERT R. POWELL

Attorney for Plaintiffs

17|| FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO “7

Date: 01/07/2026 aif /-

19 JUDGE OF THE CENTRAL

DISTRICT COURT - CALIFORNIA

28 14

Stipulated Protective Order

RPamne ptal w Cnimnty nt San Rornnadinn otal

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

5 have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued

6 by the United States District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in the

7 case of ___________ [insert formal name of the case and the number and initials

8 assigned to it by the court]. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of

9 this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so

10 comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I

11 solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is

12 subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict

13 compliance with the provisions of this Order.

14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for

15 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

19 address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in

20 connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this

21 Stipulated Protective Order.

22 Date: ______________________________________

23 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________

24 Printed name: _______________________________

25 Signature: __________________________________

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