Al Otro Lado, Inc. v. McAleenan

District Court, S.D. California·Decided August 6, 2020·No. 3:17-cv-02366·Unknown

Opinion

AL OTRO LADO, INC., et al., Case No.: 17-cv-02366-BAS-KSC Plaintiffs, ORDER: v. (1) GRANTING IN PART AND CHAD F. WOLF, et al., DENYING IN PART MOTIONS TO SEAL CLASS CERTIFICATION Defendants. MOTION AND OPPOSITION BRIEF [ECF Nos. 388, 404]; AND (2) DENYING WITHOUT PREJUDICE MOTION TO SEAL REPLY BRIEF [ECF No. 410] Before the Court are Plaintiffs’ Motion to Seal Limited Portions of their Class Certification Papers (ECF No. 388), Defendants’ Motion to Seal Portions of their Opposition to the Motion for Class Certification (ECF No. 404), and Plaintiffs’ Motion to Seal Portions of their Class Certification Reply (ECF No. 410).1 For the reasons stated below, the Court GRANTS IN PART AND DENIES IN PART the Motions to Seal the Class Certification Papers and Opposition (ECF Nos. 388, 404) and DENIES WITHOUT PREJUDICE Plaintiffs’ Motion to Seal the Reply (ECF No. 410). 1 Defendants filed a Consolidated Response in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motions to Seal (“Response”) (ECF No. 424.) The parties request that the Court seal a total of 59 exhibits attached to Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification (“Motion”), Defendants’ Opposition to the Motion (“Opposition”), and Plaintiffs’ Reply in support of the Motion (“Reply”), as well as any portions of the parties’ briefings that refer to these exhibits.2 Defendants argue that sealing is necessary because the documents contain “diplomatic and sensitive law enforcement information and communications” about ports of entry that “expose[] vulnerabilities of those ports” which could be used to threaten port security. (Resp. at 1–2.) Further, Defendants claim disclosure will chill communications within agencies and between the U.S. Government and foreign governments. (Id.) 3 “[T]he courts of this country recognize a general right to inspect and copy public records and documents, including judicial records and documents.” Nixon v. Warner Commc’ns, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 597 (1978). “Unless a particular court record is one ‘traditionally kept secret,’ a ‘strong presumption in favor of access’ is the starting point.” Kamakana v. City & Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006) (citing Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1135 (9th Cir. 2003)). “The presumption of access is ‘based on the need for federal courts, although independent—indeed, particularly because they are independent—to have a measure of accountability and for the public to have confidence in the administration of justice.” Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1096 (9th Cir. 2016) (quoting United States v. Amodeo, 71 F.3d 1044, 1048 (2d Cir. 1995)). A party seeking to seal a judicial record bears the burden of overcoming the strong presumption of access. Foltz, 331 F.3d at 1135. The showing required to meet this burden depends upon whether the documents to be sealed relate to a 2 These includes Exhibit Nos. 1–5, 7, 16, 17, 19–24, 26, 29–34, 36-37, 39–44, 46–62 to the Class Certification Motion, Exhibit Nos. 2, 6–10, 12, 26, 28, and 30 to the Opposition, and Exhibit Nos. 2–6 to Plaintiffs’ Reply. A list of the exhibits, the corresponding rulings, and any applicable redactions is included in Appendix A to this Order. 3 To the extent the Court relied on limited parts of the information contained in these exhibits in its Order motion that is “more than tangentially related to the merits of the case.” Ctr. for Auto Safety, 809 F.3d at 1102. When the underlying motion is more than tangentially related to the merits, the “compelling reasons” standard applies. Id. at 1096–98. When the underlying motion does not surpass the tangential relevance threshold, the “good cause” standard applies. Id. A party seeking to seal a judicial record bears the burden of overcoming the strong presumption of access. Foltz, 331 F.3d at 1135. The showing required to meet this burden depends upon whether the documents to be sealed relate to a motion that is “more than tangentially related to the merits of the case.” Ctr. for Auto Safety, 809 F.3d at 1102. When the underlying motion is more than tangentially related to the merits, the “compelling reasons” standard applies. Id. at 1096–98. When the underlying motion does not surpass the tangential relevance threshold, the “good cause” standard applies. Id. “In general, ‘compelling reasons’ sufficient to outweigh the public’s interest in disclosure and justify sealing court records exist when such ‘court files might have become a vehicle for improper purposes,’ such as the use of records to gratify private spite, promote public scandal, circulate libelous statements, or release trade secrets.” Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179. If a court chooses to seal documents, it must “base its decision on a compelling reason and articulate the factual basis for its ruling, without relying on hypothesis or conjecture.” Hagestad v. Tragesser, 49 F.3d 1430, 1434 (9th Cir. 1995). This requires the party seeking to seal documents to “make a particularized showing . . . supported by specific factual findings that outweigh the important public policies favoring disclosure of that document.” Unknown Parties v. Johnson, No. CV-15-00250-TUC- DCB, 2016 WL 8199309, at *4 (D. Ariz. June 27, 2016) (citing Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1178, 1180–81). Therefore, blanket claims of privacy or law enforcement are insufficient; instead, the party “must demonstrate specific prejudice or harm flowing from the disclosure of a specific document.” Id. Further, consistent with the presumptive right of public access to court records, this Court’s Standing Order for Civil Cases provides: The Court may seal documents to protect sensitive information, however, the documents to be filed under seal will be limited by the Court to only those documents, or portions thereof, necessary to protect such sensitive information. Parties seeking a sealing order must provide the Court with: (1) a specific description of particular documents or categories of documents they need to protect; and (2) declarations showing a compelling reason or good cause to protect those documents from disclosure. The standard for filing documents under seal will be strictly applied. (Standing Order ¶ 5.) Plaintiffs’ Class Certification Motion is more than tangentially related to the merits of the underlying dispute. See Baker v. SeaWorld Entm’t, Inc., No. 14CV2129-MMA (AGS), 2017 WL 5029612, at *3 (S.D. Cal. Nov. 3, 2017) (finding motion for class certification to be more than tangentially related to merits of the case and citing cases). Hence, the instant Motions to Seal are subject to the “compelling reasons” standard. The Court discusses the exhibits by category below. A. Deposition Testimony (Exs. 1–3 to Mot.) Defendants seek to seal the 30(b)(6) deposition testimony of Randy Howe, the Executive Director for the Office of Field Operations (“Howe Deposition”); Executive Assistant Commissioner Todd Owen’s deposition testimony (“Owen Deposition”) and the deposition testimony of a Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) Whistleblower (“Whistleblower Deposition”). 1. Howe Deposition (Ex. 1 to Mot.) According to Defendants, the Howe Deposition should be sealed in its entirety primarily because disclosure could reveal port vulnerabilities and allow for second- guessing or commentary by “outside entities” that would have a “chilling effect” on the decisionmaking ability of CBP officials. (Decl. of Randy Howe (“Howe Decl.”) ¶¶ 4, 5, 7–9, 11, Ex. C to Decl. of Ari Nazarov in supp. of Resp. (“Nazarov Decl.”), ECF No. 424- 5.) The Court does not find potential public scrutiny of gov

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Al Otro Lado, Inc. v. McAleenan, (S.D. Cal. 2020).

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