explaining the interest of 5 citizens in “keep[ing] a watchful eye on the workings of public agencies”
How later courts described this case
- explaining the interest of 5 citizens in “keep[ing] a watchful eye on the workings of public agencies”
- a party’s privacy rights are to be protected through a “carefully 25 crafted protective order.”
- peace officers have constitutionally-based “privacy rights [that] are 13 not inconsequential” in their police personnel records
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
1 Denisse O. Gastélum, SBN 282771 Christian Contreras, SBN 330269
GASTÉLUM LAW, APC THE LAW OFFICES OF
2
A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION CHRISTIAN CONTRERAS
3 3767 Worsham Ave. PROFESSIONAL LAW CORPORATION
Long Beach, California 90808 360 E. 2nd St., 8th Floor
4 Tel: (213) 340-6112 Los Angeles, California 90012
Fax: (213) 402-8622 Tel: (323) 435-8000
5 Email: dgastelum@gastelumfirm.com Fax: (323) 597-0101
Email: CC@Contreras-Law.com
6 Attorneys for Plaintiffs,
ESTATE OF ABEL CHACON, by and through successors in interest, Becky Shorty
7 and Charles Chacon; BECKY SHORTY, individually; CHARLES CHACON,
individually
8
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
9
THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA -EASTERN DIVISION
10
11 ESTATE OF ABEL CHACON, by ) CASE NO. 5:23-cv-00990-JGB-SHK
and through successors in interest, ) [Assigned to the Hon. Jesus G. Bernal,
12 Becky Shorty and Charles Chacon; ) District Judge; Referred to the Hon.
BECKY SHORTY, individually; ) Shashi H. Kewalramani, Magistrate
13 CHARLES CHACON, individually, ) Judge]
)
14 Plaintiffs, )
) DISCOVERY MATTER
15 v. )
)
16 COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE, a public ) [PROPOSED] STIPULATED
) PROTECTIVE ORDER
17 entity; RIVERSIDE COUNTY )
SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT; )
18 SHERIFF CHAD BIANCO, in his )
)
19 individual and official capacities; )
EDWARD DELGADO; JAMES )
20 KRACHMER; DAVID HOLM; )
)
21 RONALD SANCHEZ; and DOES 1 )
through 10, individually, jointly and )
22 severally, )
Defendants. )
23 )
) Discovery Cutoff: TBD
24 ) ) Trial: TBD
25
26
27
28
1 1. A. 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
disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be
4
warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter
5
the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order
6
does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and
7
that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited
8
information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable
9
legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3 (Filing
10
Protected Material), below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them
11
to a file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the
12
procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party
13
seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
14
B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
15
Plaintiffs and the individual Defendants may produce certain documents
16
in this case that contain personal medical, employment or financial information. Such
17
information may implicate the privacy interests of the party and are properly protected
18
through a Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c) protective order. Seattle Times Co. v. Rhinehart, 467
19
U.S. 20, 35 n.21 (1984) (“Rule 26(c) includes among its express purposes the
20
protection of a ‘party or person from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression or undue
21
burden or expense.’ Although the Rule contains no specific reference to privacy or to
22
other rights or interests that may be implicated, such matters are implicit in the broad
23
purpose and language of the Rule.”); Soto v. City of Concord, 162 F.R.D. 603, 617
24
(N.D. Cal. 1995) (a party’s privacy rights are to be protected through a “carefully
25
crafted protective order.”).
26
Defendants contend that there is good cause and a particularized need for a
27
protective order to preserve the interests of confidentiality and privacy in peace officer
28
1 personnel file records and associated investigative or confidential records for the
2 following reasons.
3 First, Defendants contend that peace officers have a federal privilege of privacy
4 in their personnel file records: a reasonable expectation of privacy therein that is
5 underscored, specified, and arguably heightened by the Pitchess protective procedure
6 of California law. See Sanchez v. Santa Ana Police Dept., 936 F.2d 1027, 1033-1034
7 (9th Cir. 1990); Hallon v. City of Stockton, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14665, *2-3, 12-13
8 (E.D. Cal. 2012) (concluding that “while “[f]ederal law applies to privilege based
9 discovery disputes involving federal claims,” the “state privilege law which is
10 consistent with its federal equivalent significantly assists in applying [federal] privilege
11 law to discovery disputes”); Soto v. City of Concord, 162 F.R.D. 603, 613 n. 4, 616
12 (N.D. Cal. 1995) (peace officers have constitutionally-based “privacy rights [that] are
13 not inconsequential” in their police personnel records); cf. Cal. Penal Code §§ 832.7,
14 832.8; Cal. Evid. Code §§ 1040-1047. Defendants further contend that uncontrolled
15 disclosure of such personnel file information can threaten the safety of non-party
16 witnesses, officers, and their families/associates.
17 Second, Defendants contend that municipalities and law enforcement agencies
18 have federal deliberative-executive process privilege, federal official information
19 privilege, federal law enforcement privilege, and federal attorney-client privilege
20 (and/or attorney work product protection) interests in the personnel files of their peace
21 officers – particularly as to those portions of peace officer personnel files that contain
22 critical self-analysis, internal deliberation/decision-making or evaluation/analysis, or
23 communications for the purposes of obtaining or rendering legal advice or analysis –
24 potentially including but not limited to evaluative/analytical portions of Internal Affairs
25 type records or reports, evaluative/analytical portions of supervisory records or reports,
26 and/or reports prepared at the direction of counsel, or for the purpose of obtaining or
27 rendering legal advice. See Sanchez, 936 F.2d at 1033-1034; Maricopa Audubon Soc’y
28 v. United States Forest Serv., 108 F.3d 1089, 1092-1095 (9th Cir. 1997); Soto, 162
1 F.R.D. at 613, 613 n. 4; Kelly v. City of San Jose, 114 F.R.D. 654, 668-671 (N.D. Cal.
2 1987); Tuite v. Henry, 181 F.R.D. 175, 176-177 (D. D.C. 1998); Hamstreet v. Duncan,
3 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89702 (D. Or. 2007); Admiral Ins. Co. v. United States Dist.
4 Ct., 881 F.2d 1486, 1492, 1495 (9th Cir. 1988). Defendants further contend that such
5 personnel file records are restricted from disclosure by the public entity’s custodian of
6 records pursuant to applicable California law and that uncontrolled release is likely to
7 result in needless intrusion of officer privacy; impairment in the collection of third-
8 party witness information and statements and related legitimate law enforcement
9 investigations/interests; and a chilling of open and honest discussion regarding and/or
10 investigation into alleged misconduct that can erode a public entity’s ability to identify
11 and/or implement any remedial measures that may be required.
12 Third, Defendants contend that, since peace officers do not have the same rights
13 as other private citizens to avoid giving compelled statements, it is contrary to the
14 fundamental principles of fairness to permit uncontrolled release of officers’ compelled
15 statements. See generally Lybarger v. City of Los Angeles, 40 Cal.3d 822, 828-830
16 (1985); cf. U.S. Const., amend V.
17 Accordingly, Defendants contend that, without a protective order preventing
18 such, production of confidential records in the case can and will likely substantially
19 impair and harm defendant public entity’s interests in candid self-critical analysis,
20 frank internal deliberations, obtaining candid information from witnesses, preserving
21 the safety of witnesses, preserving the safety of peace officers and peace officers’
22 families and associates, protecting the privacy officers of peace officers, and preventing
23 pending investigations from being detrimentally undermined by publication of private,
24 sensitive, or confidential information – as can and often does result in litigation.
25 Plaintiffs do not agree with and do not stipulate to Defendants’ contentions stated
26 above. Plaintiffs have expressed their concerns pertaining to the use of stipulated
27 protective orders in federal civil rights actions. To begin, documents exchanged in
28 discovery are presumptively public in nature. San Jose Mercury News, Inc. v. U.S.
1 District Court, 187 F.3d 1096, 1103 (9th Cir. 1999). Furthermore, the public maintains
2 a notable interest in the protection of civil rights and government accountability,
3 including in allegations of law enforcement misconduct. See, e.g., Nixon v. Warner
4 Communications, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 597 & n. 7 (1978) (explaining the interest of
5 citizens in “keep[ing] a watchful eye on the workings of public agencies”). While
6 Plaintiffs do not disagree that certain law enforcement documents, and specifically
7 personnel files, warrant the protections afforded by protective orders, Plaintiffs object
8 to the use of protective orders as blanket “confidential” designations. Given the legal
9 issues existing in the Chacon matter (i.e., whether custody/medical personnel’s
10 deliberate indifference resulted in an in-custody death of a pretrial detainee), it is
11 Plaintiffs’ position that the public interest in government accountability and
12 transparency clearly outweighs any speculative harms the Defendants may allege
13 exist.1 Nonetheless, and in the interest of expediency given the controlling Scheduling
14 Order in the Chacon matter, Plaintiffs agree to enter into a Stipulated Protective Order
15 to preserve the respective interests of the parties.
16
17 2. DEFINITIONS
18 2.1 Action: This pending federal law suit.
19 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation
20 of information or items under this Order.
21 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
22 how it is generated, stored, or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
23 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the
24 Good Cause Statement.
25 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as
26
27 1 As a general rule, the public is permitted access to litigation documents and information produced during
discovery, and the party opposing such disclosure must demonstrate particularized harm and, if such specific harm does
28 exist, the Court must still proceed to balance the competing private and public interests at stake. In re Roman Catholic
1 their support staff).
2 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
3 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
4 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
5 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
6 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
7 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
8 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
9 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
10 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
11 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
12 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
13 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
14 counsel.
15 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
16 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
17 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party
18 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have
19 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which
20 has appeared on behalf of that party, including support staff.
21 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
22 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
23 support staffs).
24 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
25 Discovery Material in this Action.
26 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support
27 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
28 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
1 and their employees and subcontractors.
2 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
3 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
4 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material
5 from a Producing Party.
6 3. SCOPE
7 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
8 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
9
compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
10
presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
11
Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the
12
trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
13
4. DURATION
14
Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations
15
imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees
16
otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be
17
deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with
18
or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and
19
exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action,
20
including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time
21 pursuant to applicable law.
22 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
23 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
24 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under
25 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that
26 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for
27 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written
28 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items,
1 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably
2 within the ambit of this Order.
Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
3
that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
4
purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
5
unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating
6
Party to sanctions.
7
If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
8
designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
9
promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
10
5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
11
this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of Section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
12
stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
13
under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
14
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 page that
20 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
21 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
22 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
23 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for
24 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has
25 indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection
26 and before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be
deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents
27
it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents,
28
1 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing
2 the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL
legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of
3
the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly
4
identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the
5
margins). Markings added to documents pursuant to this paragraph shall not obscure
6
the content or text of the documents produced.
7
(b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify
8
the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition
9
all protected testimony. The court reporter must affix to each such transcript page
10
containing Protected Material the “CONFIDENTIAL legend”, as instructed by the
11
Designating Party.
12
(c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and
13
for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on
14 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the
15 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants
16 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected
17 portion(s).
18 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
19 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the
20 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
21 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
22 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
23 Order.
24 5.4 Privilege Log
25 If a party withholds information that is responsive to a discovery request by
26 claiming that it is privileged or otherwise protected from discovery, that party shall
27 promptly prepare and provide a privilege log that is sufficiently detailed and
28 informative for the opposing party to assess whether a document's designation as
1 privileged is justified. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(5). The privilege log shall set forth
2 the privilege relied upon and specify separately for each document or for each category
3 of similarly situated documents:
4 (a) the title and description of the document, including number of pages
5 or Bates- number range;
6 (b) the subject matter addressed in the document;
7 (c) the identity and position of its author(s);
8 (d) the identity and position of all addressees and recipients;
9 (e) the date the document was prepared and, if different, the date(s) on
10 which it was sent to or shared with persons other than its author(s); and
11 (f) the specific basis for the claim that the document is privileged and
12 protected.
13 Communications involving counsel that post-date the filing of the complaint
14 need not be placed on a privilege log.
15 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
16 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
17 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
18 Scheduling Order.
19 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party Shall initiate the dispute
20 resolution process under Civil Local Rule 37-1 et seq.
21 6.3 Burden of Persuasion
22 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the
23 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose
24 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties), may
25 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived
26 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the
27 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the
28 Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
1 6.4 Withdrawal of “CONFIDENTIAL” Designation.
2 At its discretion, a Designating Party may remove Protected Material from some or all
3 of the protections and provisions of this Stipulated Protective Order at any time by any
4 of the following methods:
5 (a) Express Written Withdrawal. A Designating Party may withdraw a
6 “CONFIDENTIAL” designation made to any specified Protected Material from some
7 or all of the protections of this Stipulated Protective Order by an express withdrawal in
8 writing signed by the Designating Party or Designating Party’s counsel (but not
9 including staff of such counsel) that specifies and itemizes the Disclosure or Discovery
10 Material previously designated as Protected Material that shall not longer be subject to
11 some or all of the provisions of this Stipulated Protective Order. Such express
12 withdrawal shall be effective when transmitted or served upon the Receiving Party. If
13 a Designating Party is withdrawing Protected Material from only some of the
14 provisions/protections of this Stipulated Protective Order, the Designating Party must
15 state which specific provisions are no longer to be enforced as to the specified material
16 for which confidentiality protection hereunder is withdrawn: otherwise, such
17 withdrawal shall be construed as a withdrawal of such material from all of the
18 protections/provisions of this Stipulated Protective Order;
19 (b) Express Withdrawal on the Record. A Designating Party may withdraw
20 a “CONFIDENTIAL” designation made to any specified Protected Material from all
21 of the provisions/protections of this Stipulated Protective Order by verbally consenting
22 in court proceedings on the record to such withdrawal – provided that such withdrawal
23 specifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material previously designated as Protected
24 Material shall no longer be subject to any of the provisions of this Stipulation and
25 Order;
26 (c) Implicit Withdrawal by Publication or Failure to Oppose Challenge. A
27 Designating Party shall be construed to have withdrawn a “CONFIDENTIAL”
28 designation made to any specified Protected Material from all of the
1 provisions/protections of this Stipulated Protective Order by either (1) making such
2 Protected Material part of the public record – including but not limited to attaching
3 such as exhibits to any filing with the court without moving, prior to such filing, for
4 the court to seal such records; or (2) failing to timely oppose a Challenging Party’s
5 motion to remove a “CONFIDENTIAL” designation to specified Protected Material.
6
7 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
8 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
9 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
10 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such
11 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
12 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a
13 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of Section 13 below (FINAL
14 DISPOSITION).
15 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
16 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
authorized under this Order.
17
7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
18
otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
19
Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
20
“CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
21
(a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
22
well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
23
necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
24
(b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of
25
the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
26
(c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
27
disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
28
1 (d) the Court and its personnel;
2 (e) court reporters and their staff;
(f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
3
Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
4
signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
5
(g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
6
custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
7
(h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the
8
Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party
9
requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will
10
not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
11
“Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
12
agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed
13
deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be
14 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as
15 permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
16 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
17 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
18 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED
19 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION
20 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
21 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
22 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
23 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification
shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
24
(b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order
25
to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena
26
or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of
27
this Stipulated Protective Order; and
28
1 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
2 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
3
the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this
4
action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the
5
subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s
6
permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
7
protection in that court of its confidential material, and nothing in these provisions
8
should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action
9
to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
10
9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
11
PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
12
(a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a
13
Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
14
produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
15
remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
16 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
17 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
18 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
19 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
20 confidential information, then the Party shall:
21 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
22 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement
23 with a Non-Party;
(2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
24
Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
25
specific description of the information requested; and
26
(3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-
27
Party, if requested.
28
1 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within
2 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party
may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery
3
request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall
4
not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the
5
confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court.
6
Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense
7
of seeking protection in this Court of its Protected Material.
8
10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
9
If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
10
Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
11
Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
12
writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
13
to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or
14
persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
15 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
16 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
17 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
18 PROTECTED MATERIAL
19 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
20 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
21 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
22 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
23 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior
24 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
25
information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
26
parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted
27
to the Court.
28
1 12. MISCELLANEOUS
2 12.1 Right to Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person
3 to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
4 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
5 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
6 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
7 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
8 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
9 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
10 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
11 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific
12 Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal
13 is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public
14 record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
15 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
16 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in Section 4
17 (DURATION), 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
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such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all
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copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or
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capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned
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or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing
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Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day
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deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material
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that was returned or destroyed; and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not
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retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, or any other format
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reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this
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provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion
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1 || deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant
2 || and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such
3 || archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this
4 || Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION).
5 14. Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate
6 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
7 sanctions.
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9 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
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DATED
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Attorneys for Plaintiff
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' || DATED:
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18 |! Attorneys for Defendant
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20 |} FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
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22 || DATED:__ February 23, 2024
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Honorable Shashi H. Kewalramani
*> ll United States Magistrate Judge
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EXHIBIT A
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
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I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of
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_________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that
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I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was
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issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California on
14 [date] in the case of Estate of Abel Chacon, et al. v. County of Riverside, et al.; Case
15 No. 5:23-cv-00990-JGB-SHK. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the
16 terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, and I understand and acknowledge that
17 failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of
18 contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information
19 or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except
20 in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.
21 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court
for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this
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Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after
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termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or
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type full name] of _______________________________________ [print or type full
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address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in
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connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this
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Stipulated Protective Order.
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1 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________
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Printed name: _______________________________
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Signature: __________________________________
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