Davis v. Baldwin

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedFebruary 10, 2025
Docket3:16-cv-00600
StatusUnknown

This text of Davis v. Baldwin (Davis v. Baldwin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Davis v. Baldwin, (S.D. Ill. 2025).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

HENRY DAVIS, et al., ) ) Plaintiffs, ) ) vs. ) Case No. 3:16-CV-600-MAB ) LATOYA HUGHES, ) ) Defendant. )

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

BEATTY, Magistrate Judge: Defendant LaToya Hughes filed her motion for summary judgment and 52 corresponding exhibits on October 31, 2023 (Doc. 370). Plaintiffs then filed a Motion for Show Cause Order and for Sanctions, arguing that portions of Defendant's motion for summary judgment and numerous exhibits should have been redacted or under seal in accordance with the Protective Order previously entered in this case because they contain information that was designated as confidential or for attorneys' eyes only (see Doc. 378). Defense counsel responded, in part, by asking the Court to place the motion for summary judgment and all exhibits, as well as Exhibit 4 of her Motion to Exclude, which is Dr. Craig Haney’s expert report (Doc. 372-4), temporarily under seal while the parties worked toward a resolution (Doc. 381). Defendant’s request was granted and the motion for summary judgment and all 52 exhibits (Doc. 370; Docs. 370-1 through 370-53), as well as the expert report at Doc. 372-4, were placed temporarily under seal pending further briefing and review by the Court (Doc. 383). Thereafter, the Court provisionally sealed various other briefs and exhibits (see Doc. 420), including (1) Plaintiffs' response to Defendant's Motion to Exclude Expert

Reports and Testimony and all exhibits attached thereto (Doc. 389; Doc. 391; Docs. 391-1 through 391-9), Plaintiffs' response to Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment and all exhibits attached thereto (Doc. 394; Doc. 397; Docs. 397-1 through 397-81), Defendant's reply in support of her Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 403; Docs. 403-1 through 403-8), and Defendant's exhibit list for her motion for summary judgment (Doc. 371). The parties filed a Joint Status Report on August 2, 2024, indicating they met and

conferred about which information from the briefing and which exhibits could remain sealed/redacted under Seventh Circuit precedent (Doc. 418). They were able to agree as to some issues but not others. This Order addresses both the areas of agreement and the areas of dispute, as well as other related issues. LEGAL STANDARD

“Secrecy in judicial proceedings is disfavored.” GEA Grp. AG v. Flex-N-Gate Corp., 740 F.3d 411, 419 (7th Cir. 2014). “Documents that affect the disposition of federal litigation are presumptively open to public view, even if the litigants strongly prefer secrecy, unless a statute, rule, or privilege justifies confidentiality.” In re Specht, 622 F.3d 697, 701 (7th Cir. 2010). See also Baxter Int'l, Inc. v. Abbott Labs., 297 F.3d 544, 546 (7th Cir.

2002) (“In civil litigation only trade secrets, information covered by a recognized privilege (such as the attorney-client privilege), and information required by statute to be maintained in confidence (such as the name of a minor victim of a sexual assault), is entitled to be kept secret . . . .”) As an initial matter, the Court wishes to note that within each category of redactions discussed below, it attempted to provide illustrative examples from the

record. These citations should not be considered an exhaustive list of items that require redaction, nor should the parties assume the citations are absolutely and infallibly accurate. The Court offered citations to try to be of some assistance but is ultimately relying on the parties to locate all items that require redaction and to apply the redactions in accordance with the instructions in this Order. The Court trusts that it can rely on counsel to work together to achieve that goal. If any uncertainties arise regarding a

particular redaction, the Court likewise trusts the parties can rely on their common sense and consultation with one another to resolve the issue. Additionally, the parties should know up front that they will be given 14 days to object to a majority of the Court’s rulings in this Order. 1. UNNAMED CLASS MEMBERS

With respect to class members who are not the named Plaintiffs (“non-Plaintiff class members” or “non-class representatives”), the Court’s previous position during the class certification stage was that their names should be replaced with initials and their IDOC number redacted (Doc. 221). Defendant did not follow that precedent when she filed her motion for summary judgment and instead used the full names of non-Plaintiff

class members (see, e.g., Doc. 370). The Court, however, maintains its previous position that, as a general rule, these names should be redacted. The class was certified under Rule 23(b)(2), and all inmates in the IDOC were automatically made part of the class whether they wanted to be or not. The non-Plaintiff class members (with some exceptions discussed below) never volunteered to be a part of this lawsuit and never agreed to have any of their information publicly disclosed as part of the lawsuit. Defendant previously

made this same point herself (see Doc. 378-1, p. 4). Furthermore, their identities are not material to the disposition of Defendant’s motion for summary judgment or her motion to exclude Plaintiffs’ experts. See Baxter Int'l, 297 F.3d at 548 (“The strong presumption of public disclosure applies . . . to the materials that formed the basis of the parties’ dispute and the district court’s resolution.”); In re Specht, 622 F.3d at 701 (“Documents that affect the disposition of federal litigation are presumptively open to public view, even if the

litigants strongly prefer secrecy, unless a statute, rule, or privilege justifies confidentiality.”) Consequently, the Court believes the names of non-Plaintiff class members should be kept out of the public record where appropriate. The exceptions to the general rule are as follows: • Non-Plaintiff class members identified in the briefs as having previously filed lawsuits regarding restrictive housing (i.e., Doc. 370, pp. 9–12, UMF 11–18; Doc. 394, p. 12, response to UMF 11–18). These individuals have already publicly identified themselves as being inmates subjected to restrictive housing, and all of the court documents and cases that Defendant cited to are publicly available. Therefore, these individuals’ names need not be redacted from any portion of the briefs discussing their prior lawsuits.1 To the extent the names of these non-Plaintiff class members happen to appear elsewhere in any exhibits, which were presumably filed without the inmates’ express knowledge or consent, their names should be redacted in accordance with the general rule.

• The non-Plaintiff class member mentioned in Defendant’s brief as having previously submitted a letter to the Court in this case (e.g., Doc. 370, p. 29, UMF 95). This individual has voluntarily injected himself into

1 The Court notes there are no corresponding exhibits; Defendant cited only to reported cases and court filings (see Doc. 370, pp. 9–12, UMF 11–18). this case by filing an unsealed and publicly available document. Therefore, his name need not be redacted from any portion of the briefs discussing his letter.2 To the extent the name of this non-Plaintiff class member happens to appear elsewhere in any exhibits, his name should be redacted in accordance with the general rule.

• Non-Plaintiff class members who submitted declarations to Plaintiffs’ counsel to be used as evidence in this case (see, e.g., Docs. 397-8 through 397-41, 65, 66) or who sat for a deposition (see, e.g., Doc. 394, p. 30, SAMF 44).

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Related

In Re Specht
622 F.3d 697 (Seventh Circuit, 2010)
GEA Group AG v. Flex-N-Gate Corporation
740 F.3d 411 (Seventh Circuit, 2014)
Gardner v. Hough
2020 IL App (4th) 190180-U (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2020)

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Bluebook (online)
Davis v. Baldwin, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-v-baldwin-ilsd-2025.