Opinion

N.G.

Court: District Court, E.D. California
Filed: Jun 8, 2026
Cited by: 0 cases

The opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

? N.G. a minor, by and through her Case No. 2:26-cv-01533-TLN-CSK

Guardian Ad Litem, JUNET ORTEGA,

10 ORDER GRANTING MODIFIED

Plaintiff, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

Vv. (ECF No 11)

12 || CITY OF STOCKTON, et al.,

13 Defendants.

The Court has reviewed the parties’ stipulated protective order below (ECF

I5 No. 11), and finds it comports with the relevant authorities and the Court’s Local Rule.

16 || See L.R. 141.1. The Court APPROVES the protective order, subject to the following

17 || clarification.

18 The Court’s Local Rules indicate that once an action is closed, it “will not retain

19 jurisdiction over enforcement of the terms of any protective order filed in that action.” L.R.

141.1(f); see Bylin Heating Sys., Inc. v. Thermal Techs., Inc., 2012 WL 13237584, at *2

(E.D. Cal. Oct. 29, 2012) (noting that courts in the district generally do not retain

71 jurisdiction for disputes concerning protective orders after closure of the case). Thus, the

22 Court will not retain jurisdiction over this protective order once the case is closed.

Dated: June 8, 2026

24 yp -

5 8, ng.1533.26 CHI SOO KIM

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

12 N.G.; Case No.: 2:26-cv-01533-TLN-CSK

13 Plaintiff, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

CITY OF STOCKTON, et al.;

Defendants.

1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS

18 Disclosure and discovery activity in this action are likely to involve production of

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

20 and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly,

21 the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the court to enter the following Stipulated Protective

22 Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures

23 or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends

24 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the

1 this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal;

2 Civil Local Rule 141 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be

3 applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.

2. DEFINITIONS

5 2.1 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of

6 information or items under this Order.

7 2.2 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it is

generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under Federal Rule of

Civil Procedure 26(c). Pursuant to Local Rule 141(c)(1), the Parties identify the following types of

information they believe to be eligible for protection under this Order:

• Medical records of the minor Plaintiff N.G.;

• Personal information of parties in this litigation or third parties, including but not

12 limited to social security numbers, home addresses, phone numbers, and financial

13 records;

14 • Information that reveals the identity—including the name and/or image—of the

minor Plaintiff N.G. or otherwise invades her anonymity in this litigation;

• Personnel records of law enforcement officers;

• Reports pertaining to third parties not involved in this litigation; and

• Internal affairs/professional standards investigations.

2.3 Counsel (without qualifier): Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well

19 as their support staff).

20 2.4 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or items that it

21 produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.”

2.5 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the medium

or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other things, testimony,

transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to

discovery in this matter.

2.6 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter pertinent to the

2 litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a

3 consultant in this action.

4 2.7 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this action. House Counsel

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

2.8 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal

entity not named as a Party to this action.

2.9 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to this action

but are retained to represent or advise a party to this action and have appeared in this action on

9 behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which has appeared on behalf of that party.

10 2.10 Party: any party to this action, including all of its officers, directors, employees,

11 consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their support staffs).

2.11 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery

Material in this action.

2.12 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support services (e.g.,

photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing,

storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and subcontractors.

16 2.13 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated as

17 “CONFIDENTIAL.”

18 2.14 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a

Producing Party.

3. SCOPE

20 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Material (as

21 defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2) all

22 copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony,

23 conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.

24 However, the protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order do not cover the following

1 information: (a) any information that is in the public domain at the time of disclosure to a Receiving

2 Party or becomes part of the public domain after its disclosure to a Receiving Party as a result of

3 publication not involving a violation of this Order, including becoming part of the public record

4 through trial or otherwise; and (b) any information known to the Receiving Party prior to the

5 disclosure or obtained by the Receiving Party after the disclosure from a source who obtained the

6 information lawfully and under no obligation of confidentiality to the Designating Party. Any use of

7 Protected Material at trial shall be governed by a separate agreement or order.

4. DURATION

9 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by this

10 Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court order

11 otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and

12 defenses in this action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion

13 and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this action, including the

14 time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law.

15 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

16 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each Party or

17 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 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or

oral or written communications that qualify – so that other portions of the material, documents,

items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within

the ambit of this Order.

22 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are shown

23 to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily

24 encumber or retard the case development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on

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

2 protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties

3 that it is withdrawing the mistaken designation.

4 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this Order (see,

e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or

Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated

before the material is disclosed or produced.

7 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:

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

excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party

10 affix the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains protected material. If only a portion

11 or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly

12 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).

A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents or materials available for inspection need not

designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which material it would

like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made

available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has

identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which

17 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the

18 specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL” legend to each page

19 that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for

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

appropriate markings in the margins).

(b) for testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial or trial proceedings, that the

Designating Party identify on the record, before the close of the deposition, hearing, or other

23 proceeding, all protected testimony.

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

containers in which the information or item is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a

2 portion or portions of the information or item warrant protection, the Producing Party, to the extent

3 practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s).

4 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to

designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s

right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a

designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in

accordance with the provisions of this Order.

6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

9 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of

10 confidentiality at any time. Unless a prompt challenge to a Designating Party’s confidentiality

11 designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable, substantial unfairness, unnecessary economic burdens,

or a significant disruption or delay of the litigation, a Party does not waive its right to challenge a

confidentiality designation by electing not to mount a challenge promptly after the original

designation is disclosed.

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

by providing written notice of each designation it is challenging and describing the basis for each

16 challenge. To avoid ambiguity as to whether a challenge has been made, the written notice must

17 recite that the challenge to confidentiality is being made in accordance with this specific paragraph

18 of the Protective Order. The parties shall attempt to resolve each challenge in good faith and must

begin the process by conferring directly (in voice to voice dialogue; other forms of communication

are not sufficient) within 14 days of the date of service of notice. In conferring, the Challenging

Party must explain the basis for its belief that the confidentiality designation was not proper and

must give the Designating Party an opportunity to review the designated material, to reconsider the

22 circumstances, and, if no change in designation is offered, to explain the basis for the chosen

23 designation. A Challenging Party may proceed to the next stage of the challenge process only if it

24 has engaged in this meet and confer process first or establishes that the Designating Party is

1 6.3 Judicial Intervention. If the Parties cannot resolve a challenge without court

2 intervention, the Designating Party shall follow this Court’s procedures for informal discovery-

3 dispute-resolution as outlined in this Court’s Standing Procedures, Section 2 (Discovery).

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

5 Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose

6 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions.

7 All parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is

entitled under the Producing 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 case only for prosecuting,

defending, or attempting to settle this litigation. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to

12 the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the litigation has

13 been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL

14 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 persons 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 Party may disclose any

information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:

19 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this action, as well as employees

20 of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for

21 this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is

attached hereto as Exhibit A;

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

Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the

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

2 reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement

3 to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);

4 (d) the court and its personnel;

(e) court reporters and their staff, professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and

Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have

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

(f) during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is reasonably

necessary and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A),

9 unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed

10 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material must be separately

11 bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this

Stipulated Protective Order.

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

other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information.

8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN OTHER

LITIGATION

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

17 disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party

18 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

22 Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and

23 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the

24 Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.

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

2 before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has

3 obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and

4 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 PRODUCED IN THIS

LITIGATION

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

9 action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Non-Parties in

10 connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order.

11 Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional

protections.

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

Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement with the

Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, then the Party shall:

(1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that some or all

16 of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party;

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

18 this litigation, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the

information requested; and

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

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

22 Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely

23 seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or

24 control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by

seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.

2 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

4 Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order,

the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized

disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c)

inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this

Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to

Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.

9 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE PROTECTED

10 MATERIAL

11 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

16 the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement

17 in the stipulated protective order submitted to the court.

18 12. MISCELLANEOUS

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

its modification by the court in the future.

20 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective Order

21 no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any

22 information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no

23 Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by

24 this Protective Order.

12.3 Filing Protected Material. Without written permission from the Designating Party or a

2 court order secured after appropriate notice to all interested persons, a Party may not file in the

3 public record in this action any Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected

4 Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 141. Protected Material may only be filed under seal

pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue. 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 protection under

the law. If a Receiving Party's request to file Protected Material under seal pursuant to Civil Local

Rule 141 is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public

9 record pursuant to Civil Local Rule 141 unless otherwise instructed by the court.

10 13. FINAL DISPOSITION

11 Within 60 days after the final disposition of this action, as defined in paragraph 4, 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)

16 by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material

17 that was returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,

18 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

22 that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in

23 Section 4 (DURATION).

24 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.

DATED: __June 4, 2026___________ _/s/ Ty Clarke________________________________

2 Ty Clarke

Attorney for Plaintiff

DATED: __June 4, 2026___________ _/s/ Mark Berry_____________________________

5 Mark Berry

Attorney for Defendants

EXHIBIT A

2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

3 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of _________________ [print or

4 type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the

Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern

District of California on [date] in the case of N.G. v. City of Stockton, Case No. 2:26-cv-

00261-TLN-CSK. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated

Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to

sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in

9 any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person

10 or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.

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

of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such

enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action.

I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of

_______________________________________ [print or type full address and telephone number] as

my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any proceedings related

16 to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order.

18 Date: ______________________________________

City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________

Printed name: _______________________________

22 Signature: __________________________________

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