Gubarev v. Buzzfeed, Inc.

365 F. Supp. 3d 1250
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedFebruary 28, 2019
DocketCase No. 1:17-cv-60426-UU
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 365 F. Supp. 3d 1250 (Gubarev v. Buzzfeed, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gubarev v. Buzzfeed, Inc., 365 F. Supp. 3d 1250 (S.D. Fla. 2019).

Opinion

URSULA UNGARO, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

*1255THIS CAUSE comes before the Court upon intervenor The New York Times Company's ("The Times") Motion for Access to Judicial Records (D.E. 254).1

For the reasons discussed below, the motion is granted as prescribed below.

I. INTRODUCTION

The salient facts of this case are set forth in the Court's Order on the cross-motions for partial summary judgment on public figure status (D.E. 385) and the Court's Order on Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (D.E. 388), both of which are incorporated by reference herein.

"For obvious reasons, courts have uniformly approved the practice of provisionally sealing documents pending assessment of justification for a request to seal." In re Reporters Comm'ee for Freedom of the Press , 773 F.2d 1325, 1339 (D.C. Cir. 1985) (Scalia, J.) (collecting cases). Consistent with this practice, the Court permitted the parties to file documents provisionally under seal, pending a later document-by-document determination.

The Court has issued final judgment in this case, has followed the procedures required for potential unsealing (see, e.g., Rushford v. New Yorker Magazine, Inc. , 846 F.2d 249, 253-54 (4th Cir. 1988) (district court must give adequate notice of potential sealing/unsealing and provide interested persons an opportunity to object before the court rules2 ) ), and is prepared to state its findings below.

II. LEGAL STANDARD ON SEALING JUDICIAL RECORDS

A. As to Civil Pretrial Matters, Generally

"The operations of the courts and the judicial conduct of judges are matters of utmost public concern." Landmark Commc'ns, Inc. v. Virginia , 435 U.S. 829, 839, 98 S.Ct. 1535, 56 L.Ed.2d 1 (1978). "The common-law right of access to judicial proceedings, an essential component of our system of justice, is instrumental in securing the integrity of the process." Chicago Tribune Co. v. Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. , 263 F.3d 1304, 1311 (11th Cir. 2001). "This preference for public access is rooted in the public's first amendment right to know about the administration of justice." Video Software Dealers Assoc'n v. Orion Pictures Corp. (In re Orion Pictures Corp.) , 21 F.3d 24, 26 (2d Cir. 1994). "Judges deliberate in private but issue public decisions after public arguments based on public records.... Any step that withdraws an element of the judicial process from public view makes the ensuing decision look more like fiat and requires rigorous justification." Perez-Guerrero v. U.S. Att'y Gen. , 717 F.3d 1224, 1235 (11th Cir. 2013) (ellipses in original) (quoting Hicklin Eng'g, L.C. v. Bartell , 439 F.3d 346, 348 (7th Cir. 2006) ).

The right of access is not absolute. For example, the right of access does not apply to discovery. Romero v. Drummond Co. , 480 F.3d 1234, 1245 (11th Cir. 2007). Once the discovery is used "in connection with pretrial motions that require judicial resolution of the merits," however, *1256the filed material becomes "subject to the common-law right." Id. (quoting Chicago Tribune , 263 F.3d at 1312 ) ); see also Rushford v. New Yorker Magazine, Inc. , 846 F.2d 249, 252 (4th Cir. 1988) (even though protective order provided some confidentiality to discovery, once the materials become part of a motion, they "lose their status of being 'raw fruits of discovery' "). "Once a matter is brought before a court for resolution, it is no longer solely the parties' case, but also the public's case." Brown v. Advantage Eng'g , 960 F.2d 1013, 1016 (11th Cir. 1992). It makes no difference whether the pretrial motions are dispositive: "A motion that is 'presented to the court to invoke its powers or affect its decisions,' whether or not characterized as dispositive, is subject to the public right of access." Romero , 480 F.3d at 1246 (quoting United States v. Amodeo , 71 F.3d 1044, 1050 (2d Cir. 1995) ).

The right of access creates a rebuttable presumption in favor of openness of court records. Rossbach v. Rundle , 128 F.Supp.2d 1348, 1352 (S.D. Fla. 2000).3 "The common law right of access may be overcome by a showing of good cause, which requires balancing the asserted right of access against the opponent's interest in keeping the information confidential.

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365 F. Supp. 3d 1250, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gubarev-v-buzzfeed-inc-flsd-2019.