Opinion
20-cv-03510-JCS
09-28-2021
PETER TODD WILLIAMS, Plaintiff, v. LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL SECURITY, LLC, et al., Defendants.
ORDER GRANTING ON A PROVISIONAL BASIS ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION TO FILE UNDER SEAL RE: DKT. NO. 42
JOSEPH C. SPERO, MAGISTRATE JUDGE.
The Court recently filed a redacted complaint that was submitted by Plaintiff Peter Todd Williams, pro se, several months ago but was inadvertently not filed at that time. Dkt. 41. The Court filed that document in the public record because it complied with redactions proposed by the United States (at the time, a potential intervenor), but allowed Defendant Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (“LLNS”) to bring a motion to seal the redacted complaint if it believed that to be necessary. LLNS has now filed such a motion as to a handful of passages in the amended complaint, asserting that it is consulting with the National Nuclear Security Administration as to whether those portions require sealing. Dkt. 42.
The Court notes that the United States already had several months to consider Williams's complaint and affirmatively proposed unsealing the material issue. See dkt. 14 (“[T]he United States respectfully requests that the Court . . . order the Plaintiff to file . . . a redacted version of the complaint with Section VIII, Factual Background, Paragraphs 19-55, redacted. The United States will then seek an order unsealing the redacted version of the Complaint . . . .”). Nevertheless, given the national security interests implicated by the subject matter of this case, the Court is generally more open to a permissive approach to sealing, at least on a provisional basis, than might be appropriate in a different case. LLNS's motion is therefore GRANTED provisionally, and the redacted complaint (dkt. 41-2) is hereby SEALED and will remain under seal until October 26, 2021 to allow LLNS to continue to consult with the relevant governmental authorities.
If LLNS determines that any actual (rather than merely possible) confidentiality interest supports sealing this material, it may file a new motion before that date. Otherwise, the Court will order Williams's version of the redacted complaint unsealed.
IT IS SO ORDERED.