The opinion
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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
10
11 |} CALVIN RUSH and JAYME RUSH, Case No. 2:24-cv-01828-TLN-CSK
12 Plaintiffs, ORDER GRANTING MODIFIED
3 y STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
(ECF No 44)
14 || CITY OF VALLEJO, et al.,
15 Defendants.
16
17 The Court has reviewed the parties’ stipulated protective order below (ECF No.
18 || 44), and finds it comports with the relevant authorities and the Court’s Local Rule. See
19 ||L.R. 141.1. The Court APPROVES the protective order, subject to the following
20 || clarification.
21 The Court’s Local Rules indicate that once an action is closed, it “will not retain
22 || jurisdiction over enforcement of the terms of any protective order filed in that action.”
23 |{L.R. 141.1(f); see Bylin Heating Sys., Inc. v. Thermal Techs., Inc., 2012 WL 13237584,
24 □□ □□ *2 (E.D. Cal. Oct. 29, 2012) (noting that courts in the district generally do not retain
25 || jurisdiction for disputes concerning protective orders after closure of the case). Thus,
26 || the Court will not retain jurisdiction over this protective order once the case is closed.
27 ||Dated: May 4, 2026 . □
28 ian Spo \
8, rush. 1828.24 CHISOO KIM
, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Case No. 2:24-cv-01828-TLN-CSK STIPULATION AND {PROPOSED}
1 VERONICA A. F. NEBB
2 City Attorney, SBN 140001
BY: KRISTOFFER S. JACOB
3
Assistant City Attorney, SBN 320286
4 CITY OF VALLEJO, City Hall
555 Santa Clara Street, 3rd Floor
5 Vallejo, CA 94590
Tel: (707) 648-4545
6
Email: kristoffer.jacob@cityofvallejo.net
7
Attorneys for Defendants CITY OF VALLEJO and TED GARCIA
8
9 PHILIP J. DOWNS, JR., SBN 302939
ALLEN, GLAESSNER, HAZELWOOD & WERTH
10 180 Montgomery Street, Suite 1200
San Francisco, CA 94104
11
Tel: (415) 697-2000
12 Email: pdowns@aghwlaw.com
13 Attorney for Defendant SOLANO COUNTY
14
STANLEY GOFF, SBN 289564
15 LAW OFFICE OF STANLEY GOFF
15 Boardman Place, Suite 2
16 San Francisco, CA 94103
17 Telephone: (415) 571-9570
Email: scraiggoff@aol.com
18
Attorney for Plaintiffs CALVIN RUSH and JAYME RUSH
19
20 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
21
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
22
CALVIN RUSH and JAYME RUSH, Case No. 2:24-cv-01828-TLN-CSK
23
Plaintiffs,
24 STIPULATION AND [PROPOSED]
vs. PROTECTIVE ORDER
25
CITY OF VALLEJO, TED GARCIA,
26 AND DOES 1-50, SOLANO COUNTY AND
DOES 51-80,
27
Defendants.
28
1 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
2 Disclosure and discovery activity in this action are likely to involve production of
3 confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public
4 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted.
5 Accordingly, the Parties hereby stipulate to and petition the court to enter the following
6 Stipulated Protective Order. The Parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket
7 protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from
8 public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to
9 confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles; in accordance with Local Rule
10 141.1(c), a general description of the types of information eligible for protection under this Order
11 is provided in Section 2.2 below. The Parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3,
12 below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information
13 under seal; Civil Local Rule 141 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the
14 standards that will be applied when a Party seeks permission from the Court to file material
15 under seal.
16 2. DEFINITIONS
17 2.1 Challenging Party: A Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of
18 information or items under this Order.
19 2.2 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: Information (regardless of how it is
20 generated, stored, or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under Federal Rule
21 of Civil Procedure 26(c), and for which public disclosure is likely to result in particularized harm
22 and violate privacy interests recognized by law. This information may include, but is not limited
23 to:
24 a. personnel file records of any peace officer;
25 b. medical records;
26 c. social security numbers and similar sensitive identifying information
27 (unless redacted by order or by agreement of all parties).
28 2.3 Counsel (without qualifier): Outside counsel of record where applicable and in-
1 house counsel (as well as their support staff).
2 2.4 Designating Party: A Party or Non-Party that designates information or items that
3 it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
4 2.5 Disclosure or Discovery Material: All items or information, regardless of the
5 medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other things,
6 testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or
7 responses to discovery in this matter.
8 2.6 Expert: A person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter pertinent
9 to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert witness or as
10 a consultant in this action.
11 2.7 In-House Counsel: Attorneys who are employees of a Party to this action. In-
12 House Counsel does not include outside counsel of record or any other outside counsel.
13 2.8 Non-Party: Any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other
14 legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
15 2.9 Outside Counsel of Record: Attorneys who are not employees of a Party to this
16 action but are retained to represent or advise a Party to this action and have appeared in this
17 action on behalf of that Party or are affiliated with a law firm which has appeared on behalf of
18 that Party.
19 2.10 Party: Any Party to this action, including all of its officers, directors, employees,
20 consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their support staffs).
21 2.11 Producing Party: A Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery
22 Material in this action.
23 2.12 Professional Vendors: Persons or entities that provide litigation support services
24 (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and
25 organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and
26 subcontractors.
27 2.13 Protected Material: Any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated as
28 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
1 2.14 Receiving Party: A Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a
2 Producing Party.
3 3. SCOPE
4 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Material
5 (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied from Protected Material; (2) all copies,
6 excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material that reveal the source of the
7 Protected Material or that reveal specific information entitled to confidentiality as a matter of
8 law; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might
9 reveal Protected Material. However, the protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order do
10 not cover the following information: (a) any information that is in the public domain at the time
11 of disclosure to a Receiving Party or becomes part of the public domain after its disclosure to a
12 Receiving Party as a result of publication not involving a violation of this Order, including
13 becoming part of the public record through trial or otherwise; (b) any information known to the
14 Receiving Party prior to the disclosure or obtained by the Receiving Party after the disclosure
15 from a source who obtained the information lawfully and under no obligation of confidentiality
16 to the Designating Party; and (c) any information mentioned or referenced in a deposition or in
17 other pretrial or trial proceedings, unless such portions of testimony have been designated as
18 confidential pursuant to section 5.2 (b) of this Order. Any use of Protected Material at trial shall
19 be governed by a separate agreement or order.
20 4. DURATION
21 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by
22 this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court
23 order otherwise directs. For records subject to California Penal Code § 832.7(b), the
24 confidentiality obligations imposed by this Order shall cease automatically with respect to any
25 portions of records disclosed to the public by the Designating Party at the time that such
26 information and materials are disclosed. The confidentiality obligations imposed by this Order
27 shall remain in full force and effect with respect to records and portions of records redacted or
28 otherwise withheld from public disclosure.
1 Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and
2 defenses in this action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the
3 completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this action,
4 including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to
5 applicable law.
6 The Court shall retain jurisdiction over enforcement of the terms of this Order after
7 closure of the Clerk’s closure of the action.
8 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
9 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each Party
10 or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order must take care
11 to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards.
12 The Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents,
13 items, or oral or written communications that qualify – so that other portions of the material,
14 documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept
15 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.
16 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that
17 are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to
18 unnecessarily encumber or delay the case development process or to impose unnecessary
19 expenses and burdens on other parties) expose the Designating Party to sanctions.
20 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
21 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly
22 notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the mistaken designation.
23 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this Order
24 (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered,
25 Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so
26 designated before the material is disclosed or produced.
27 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
28 a. For information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents,
1 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing
2 Party affix the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains protected material. If only
3 a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also
4 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the
5 margins).
6 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents or materials available
7 for inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has
8 indicated which material it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the
9 designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed
10 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the Inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and
11 produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for
12 protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing
13 Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL” legend to each page that contains Protected Material. If
14 only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party
15 also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the
16 margins).
17 b. For testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial or trial proceedings,
18 that the Designating Party identify on the record, before the close of the deposition, hearing, or
19 other proceeding, all protected testimony. Alternatively, the Designating Party may designate
20 portions of testimony within fifteen (15) days after receipt of the transcript by providing notice to
21 all Parties in writing.
22 c. For information produced in some form other than documentary and for
23 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of
24 the container or containers in which the information or item is stored the legend
25 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information or item warrant protection,
26 the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s).
27 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. An inadvertent failure to designate qualified
28 information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to secure
1 protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the
2 Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance
3 with the provisions of this Order.
4 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
5 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of
6 confidentiality at any time. Unless a prompt challenge to a Designating Party’s confidentiality
7 designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable, substantial unfairness, unnecessary economic
8 burdens, or a significant disruption or delay of the litigation, a Party does not waive its right to
9 challenge a confidentiality designation by electing not to mount a challenge promptly after the
10 original designation is disclosed.
11 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution
12 process by providing written notice of each designation it is challenging and describing the basis
13 for each challenge. To avoid ambiguity as to whether a challenge has been made, the written
14 notice must recite that the challenge to confidentiality is being made in accordance with the
15 Protective Order. The Parties shall attempt to resolve each challenge in good faith and must
16 begin the process by conferring directly (in voice to voice dialogue; other forms of
17 communication are not sufficient) within thirty (30) days of the date of service of notice. In
18 conferring, the Challenging Party must explain the basis for its belief that the confidentiality
19 designation was not proper and must give the Designating Party an opportunity to review the
20 designated material, to reconsider the circumstances, and, if no change in designation is offered,
21 to explain the basis for the chosen designation. A Challenging Party may proceed to the next
22 stage of the challenge process only if it has engaged in this meet and confer process first or
23 establishes that the Designating Party is unwilling to participate in the meet and confer process in
24 a timely manner.
25 6.3 Judicial Intervention. If the Parties cannot resolve a challenge without Court
26 intervention, the Parties shall meet and confer regarding resolution by informal discovery
27 conference. If both Parties do not agree to submit the dispute to the Court via informal discovery
28 conference, the Receiving Party shall file and serve a motion to de-designate under Civil Local
1 Rule 251 (and in compliance with Civil Local Rule 141, if applicable) within twenty-one (21)
2 days of the Parties agreeing that the meet and confer process will not resolve their dispute. Each
3 such motion must be accompanied by a competent declaration affirming that the movant has
4 complied with the meet and confer requirements imposed in the preceding paragraph.
5 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the
6 Designating Party.
7 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
8 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed
9 or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this case only for
10 prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Such Protected Material may be
11 disclosed by any Party only to the categories of persons and under the conditions described in
12 this Order. When the litigation has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the
13 provisions of Section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). Protected Material must be stored and
14 maintained by all Parties at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited
15 to the persons authorized under this Order.
16 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise
17 ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by agreement of both Designating Party and
18 Receiving Party, all Parties may disclose any information or item designated
19 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
20 a. counsel for any Party to the action;
21 b. paralegal, stenographic, clerical, and secretarial personnel regularly
22 employed by counsel;
23 c. court personnel including stenographic reporters engaged in such
24 proceedings as are necessarily incidental to preparation for the trial of this action;
25 d. any outside expert or consultant retained in connection with this action
26 and not otherwise employed by either Party;
27 e. any "in house" expert designated by Defendants to testify at trial in this
28 matter;
1 f. witnesses, other than the plaintiff herein, who may have the documents
2 disclosed to them during deposition proceedings; the witnesses may not leave the depositions
3 with copies of the documents, and shall be bound by the provisions of this Order;
4 g. any Neutral Evaluator or other designated ADR provider;
5 h. Parties to the action; and
6 i. the jury, should the matter go to trial.
7 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN
8 OTHER LITIGATION
9 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels
10 disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that
11 Party must:
12 a. promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall include a
13 copy of the subpoena or court order;
14 b. promptly notify in writing the Party who caused the subpoena or order to issue in
15 the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is subject to
16 this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order;
17 and
18 c. cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the
19 Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
20 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the
21 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as
22 “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the Court from which the subpoena or order
23 issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party
24 shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material –
25 and nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving
26 Party in this action to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
27 / / /
28 / / /
1 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED IN
2 THIS LITIGATION
3 The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party in this
4 action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Non-Parties in
5 connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order.
6 Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking
7 additional protections.
8 In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a Non-
9 Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement with
10 the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, then the Party shall:
11 1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that some or
12 all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party;
13 2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective Order in
14 this litigation, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the
15 information requested; and
16 3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party.
17 If the Non-Party fails to object or seek a protective order from this Court within fourteen
18 (14) days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may
19 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the
20 Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information
21 in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party
22 before a determination by the Court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall
23 bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this Court of its Protected Material.
24 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
25 If a Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected Material to
26 any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order, the
27 Party must immediately (a) notify in writing all Parties of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use
28 its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person
1 or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d)
2 request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound”
3 that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
4 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
5 PROTECTED MATERIAL
6 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently
7 produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the
8 Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This
9 provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery
10 order that provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of
11 Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the Parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a
12 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product
13 protection, the Parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order
14 submitted to the court.
15 12. MISCELLANEOUS
16 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to
17 seek its modification by the court in the future.
18 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective
19 Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing
20 any information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order.
21 Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the
22 material covered by this Protective Order.
23 12.3 Filing Protected Material. Without written permission of all Parties or a court
24 order secured after appropriate notice to all interested persons, a Party may not file in the public
25 record in this action any Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected
26 Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 141. Protected Material may only be filed under
27 seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue.
28 Pursuant to Civil Local Rule 141, a sealing order will issue only upon a request establishing that
the Protected Material at issue is privileged, protectable as a trade secret, or otherwise entitled to
1 protection under the law. If a Party's request to file Protected Material under seal pursuant to
2 Civil Local Rule 141(b) is denied by the Court, then the Party may file the information in the
3 public record pursuant to Civil Local Rule 141(e)(1) unless otherwise instructed by the Court.
4 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
5 Within sixty (60) days after the final disposition of this action, as defined in paragraph 4,
6 upon written notification served by Producing or Designating Party, each Receiving Party must
7 return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this
8 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and
9 any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected
10 Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the
11 Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the sixty (60)
12 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that
13 was returned or destroyed; and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,
14 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the
15 Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival
16 copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda,
17 correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and
18 consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such
19 archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective
20 Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION).
21 IT IS SO STIPULATED.
22 Respectfully submitted,
23
24 DATED: April 29, 2026 /s/ Kristoffer S. Jacob
Kristoffer S. Jacob
25 Assistant City Attorney
Attorney for Defendants,
26
CITY OF VALLEJO and TED GARCIA
27
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1 DATED: April 29, 2026 /s/ Stanley Goff _________________
STANLEY GOFF
2 Attorney for Plaintiffs,
3 CALVIN RUSH and JAYME RUSH
4
DATED: April 29, 2026 /s/ Philip J. Downs, Jr.__________
5
Philip J. Downs, Jr.
6 Attorney for Defendants,
SOLANO COUNTY
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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 read in its entirety and
5 understand the Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the
6 Eastern District of California on _____________ [date], in the case of Rush v. City of Vallejo,
7 Case No.: 2:24-cv-01828-TLN-CSK, I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of
8 this Protective Order, and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose
9 me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not
10 disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Protective Order to any
11 person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.
12 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the
13 Eastern District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective
14 Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action.
15 DATED: ______________________
16 City and State where sworn and signed: _______________________
17 Printed Name: ______________________
18 Signature: ________________________
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