J.H. v. Seattle Public Schools

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE J.H. and D.H., parents of P.H., a minor, CASE NO. 2:23-cv-191 Plaintiffs, ORDER GRANTING LEAVE TO FILE UNREDACTED v. ADMINSTRATIVE RECORD UNDER SEAL Defendant. This matter comes before the Court on the parties’ stipulated motion to file the administrative record under seal. The Court starts from the position that there is “a strong presumption in favor of access to court records.” Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1135 (9th Cir. 2003). To overcome this presumption, there must be a “compelling reason” for sealing that is “sufficient to outweigh the public’s interest in disclosure.” Kamakana v. City & County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1179 (9th Cir. 2006). Compelling reasons exist in this case. The parties’ interests in keeping the information in the record confidential to protect the minor student at issue outweighs the public’s interest in disclosure of these confidential records. See id. Given the volume of the record and the prevalence of sensitive information contained in the record, redacting this confidential information would be overly burdensome and would render the record difficult to understand – and thus far less valuable – to the public and the Court. Accordingly, the Court GRANTS the parties’ stipulated motion and DIRECTS the Clerk to maintain the administrative record under seal once it is filed.

The clerk is ordered to provide copies of this order to all counsel. Dated June 6, 2023. A Marsha J. Pechman United States Senior District Judge

Presented by: PACIFICA LAW GROUP LLP By: /s/ Sarah C. Johnson Sarah C. Johnson, WSBA # 34529 Sam E. Chalfant, WSBA # 46080 Attorneys for Defendant Seattle Public Schools

CASSADY LAW, PLLC By: /s/ Charlotte Cassady Charlotte Cassady, WSBA #19848 Attorneys for Plaintiffs

By: /s/ Kerri Feeney Kerri Feeney, WSBA #34080 Attorneys for Plaintiffs