Amber Tiffany Hosack McLean and Barbara Hosak v. Carlos Munoz, Esq., et al.

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA

AMBER TIFFANY HOSACK MCLEAN, and BARBARA HOSAK, 4:26CV3156 Plaintiffs, ORDER vs.

CARLOS MUNOZ, Esq., et al.,

Defendants.

This matter is before the Court on two motions filed by Plaintiff, Amber McLean. (Filing Nos. 22 and 23). On July 29, 2026, Plaintiff filed a 40-page document demanding an order recommending criminal charges against one of the defendants. (Filing No. 20). Among the attachments in that document, Plaintiff includes several color photographs of minor children. Upon review of the document, the Court directed the Clerk of Court to restrict access to the filing. Plaintiff has now filed a “request to redact and not censor” the filing, (Filing No. 22), and asks that the Court make her filing public, (Filing No. 23). The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and case law generally recognize a preference to protect the identities of minor children in public court proceedings. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 5.2(c) (providing that only the initials of minors should be used to protect their identity in a public proceeding); accord NECivR 5.3(a); Cajune v. Indep. Sch. Dist. 194, 105 F.4th 1070 (8th Cir. 2024) (recognizing courts have allowed vulnerable parties such as children to proceed under fictitious names to protect their privacy). Here, Plaintiff’s minor children are not parties to this case, and the Court sees no legitimate reason that their photographs should be available in public filings. The Court cannot redact a party’s filings; redaction is up to the filer. Accordingly, the Court will not unrestrict access to Filing No. 20 to protect the identities of the minor children depicted therein. IT IS ORDERED: Plaintiff’s Motions (Filing Nos. 22 and 23) are denied. Dated this 7th day of August, 2026.

BY THE COURT:

s/Michael D. Nelson United States Magistrate Judge