James v. The Cleveland School District

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI GREENVILLE DIVISION

OLECIA JAMES PLAINTIFF

v. No. 4:19-CV-66-DMB-RP

THE CLEVELAND SCHOOL DISTRICT, ET AL. DEFENDANT

ORDER SEALING DOCUMENTS

Plaintiff Olecia James filed a Motion to Extend Discovery Deadline and Trial Date. Docket #161. Attached to Plaintiff’s motion were certain exhibits which contained the names of non-parties that appear to be minors. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2, only a minor’s initials may be included in court filings. While it appeared that Plaintiff attempted to redact the names, the redactions were unsuccessful, leaving the names exposed to anyone viewing the documents. Rule 79 of the Uniform Local Civil Rules provides that no document may be sealed without a court order. L.U. Civ. R. 79(b). The decision to order records sealed is committed to the discretion of the district court, which must “balance the public’s common-law right of access against the interest favoring nondisclosure.” S.E.C. v. Van Waeyenberghe, 990 F.2d 845, 848 (5th Cir. 1993). When the documents to be sealed are part of a dispositive motion, the weight of the public’s common law right of access is necessarily greater. United States v. Amodeo, 71 F.3d 1044, 1049 (2d Cir. 1995). Here, however, the exhibits to be sealed are not related to a dispositive motion. The exhibits are attached to a motion concerning court deadlines, thus “the public interest in access is not as pressing.” Id. (internal quotations and citations omitted). The Court finds that the interest in protecting sensitive information outweighs the public’s interest, and the public’s right of access is not impeded by sealing the exhibits containing such information. The Clerk’s office is directed to seal Exhibits 2, 5, and 8 to Plaintiff’s Motion to Extend Discovery Deadline and Trial Date (Docket #161) from public access under L.U. Civ. R. 79(e)(3)(2). SO ORDERED, this the 7th day of October, 2020. /s/ Roy Percy UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE