Opinion
2:21-cv-01412-ART-EJY
07-10-2023
SAGE HUMPHRIES, GINA MENICHINO, ROSEMARIE DeANGELO, DANIELLE GUTIERREZ, JANE DOE 100, JULIET DOHERTY, and JANE DOE 200 Plaintiffs, v. MITCHELL TAYLOR BUTTON and DUSTY BUTTON, Defendants.
ORDER
ELAYNA J. YOUCHAH, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Pending before the Court is Plaintiffs' Motion to Seal Exhibit D to their Opposition to Defendants' Motion for Protective Order. ECF No. 201 at 3. Exhibit D is an excerpt from the deposition of Jane Doe 1, an alleged victim of sexual abuse. Id. Plaintiffs request the excerpt be sealed to shield her identity. Id.
As the party seeking to seal a judicial record, Plaintiffs must meet their burden of overcoming the strong presumption in favor of access and public policies favoring disclosure. Kamakana v. City and Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178-79 (9th Cir. 2006) (holding that those who seek to maintain the secrecy of documents attached to dispositive motions must meet the high threshold of showing that “compelling reasons” support secrecy). Where a party seeks to seal documents attached to a non-dispositive motion, the “public policies that support the right of access to dispositive motions do not apply with equal force .” Id. at 1179 (citation omitted). Any public interest favoring disclosure of information is outweighed by allowing victims of sexual assault to remain anonymous. Doe v. Penzato, No. CV10-5154 MEJ, 2011 WL 1833007, at *5 (N.D. Cal. May 13, 2011). The Court previously permitted portions of Jane Doe 1's deposition to be sealed and does so for the same reasons here. ECF No. 199.
Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiffs' Motion to Seal Exhibit D to their Opposition to Defendants' Motion for Protective Order (ECF No. 201) is GRANTED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Exhibit D to the Opposition to Defendants' Motion for Protective Order, found under seal at ECF Nos. 202 and 203, is and shall remain sealed.
ECF Nos. 202 and 203, which contain the unredacted excerpt of Jane Doe 1's deposition, are duplicates.