Lesher v. City of Anderson

Opinion

1 Sanjay S. Schmidt (SBN 247475) LAW OFFICE OF SANJAY S. SCHMIDT 2 1388 Sutter Street, Suite 810 3 San Francisco, CA 94109 Tel. (415) 563-8583 4 Fax (415) 223-9717 e-mail: ss@sanjayschmidtlaw.com 5

6 Panos Lagos (SBN 61821) LAW OFFICES OF PANOS LAGOS 7 6569 Glen Oaks Way Oakland, CA 94611 8 Tel. (510) 530-4078 9 Fax (510) 530-4725 e-mail: panos@panoslagoslaw.com 10 Attorneys for Plaintiff, 11 THERESE L. LESHER 12

13 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

14 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 15 THERESE L. LESHER, ) Case No. 2:21-cv-00386-WBS-DMC 16 ) 17 Plaintiff, ) ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S ) REQUEST TO SEAL DOCUMENT 18 vs. ) PURSUANT TO L.R. 141 ) 19 CITY OF ANDERSON, et al., ) 20 ) Defendants. ) 21 ) 22 23 Currently before the Court is Plaintiff’s Request to Seal the Declaration of Panos Lagos 24 in Support of Plaintiff’s Trial Brief. 25 I. RELEVANT BACKGROUND 26 Plaintiff’s action is brought pursuant to the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the 27 United States Constitution. Plaintiff has further invoked the supplemental jurisdiction of this 28 Court, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a), to hear and decide claims arising under state law. Both 1 parties have demanded a jury trial which is set to proceed on July 22, 2025, before the Honorable 2 William B. Shubb. 3 The exhibits to the Declaration of Panos Lagos in Support of Plaintiff’s Trial Brief 4 contain information designated as Protected Material pursuant to the Court’s August 3, 2021, 5 protective order (ECF No. 22). Specifically, the exhibits to the Declaration of Panos Lagos in 6 Support of Plaintiff’s Trial Brief contain information from one of the law enforcement officer’s 7 personnel file. 8 II. LEGAL STANDARD 9 Local Rule 141 governs requests to seal documents. E.D. Cal. L.R. 141. That rule 10 provides that documents may be sealed by order of the court upon the showing required by law. 11 L.R. 141(a). It requires the party making the request to “set forth the statutory or other authority 12 for sealing, the requested duration, the identity, by name or category, of persons to be permitted 13 access to the other documents, and all other relevant information.” L.R. 141(b). The “showing 14 required by law” referred to by our Local Rule is a high one. The court operates under a strong 15 presumption in favor of access to court records. Ctr. For Auto Safety v. Chrysler Group, LLC, 16 809 F.3d 1092, 1096 (2016). Accordingly, a party seeking to file something under seal must 17 present “compelling reasons” supporting the request. Id. The compelling reasons standard 18 requires the court to: (1) find a compelling reason supporting sealing the record; and, (2) 19 articulate the factual basis for sealing the record, without relying on hypothesis or conjecture. Id. 20 at 1096-97. The court must conscientiously balance the competing interests of the public and the 21 party who wishes to keep the documents private. Id. at 1097. “What constitutes a ‘compelling 22 reason’ is ‘best left to the sound discretion of the trial court.’ ” Id. (quoting Nixon v. Warner 23 Commnc’ns, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 599 (1978)). Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2(d), 24 a court “may order that a filing be made under seal without redaction.” Id. 25 III. DISCUSSION 26 Plaintiff’s Request to Seal the Declaration of Panos Lagos in Support of Plaintiff’s Trial 27 Brief asserts that the exhibits to the Declaration contain information designated as Protected 28 Material pursuant to the Court’s August 3, 2021, protective order (ECF No. 22). Specifically, the 1 exhibits to the Declaration of Panos Lagos in Support of Plaintiff's Trial Brief contai 2 || information from one of the law enforcement officer’s personnel file. 3 Pursuant to Penal Code section 832.7(a), “...the personnel records of peace officers an 4 || custodial officers and records maintained by a state or local agency pursuant to Section 832.5, o 5 information obtained from these records, are confidential and shall not be disclosed in an 6 ||criminal or civil proceeding except by discovery pursuant to Sections 1043 and 1046 of th 7 || Evidence Code.” 8 The court has reviewed the Declaration of Panos Lagos in Support of Plaintiff's Tria 9 || Brief in camera and finds that the Declaration does contain Protected Material pursuant to th 10 Court’s August 3, 2021, protective order (ECF No. 22). Further, disclosing the Protecte 11 || Material to the public would violate Penal Code section 832.7(a). These considerations justif 12 || the requested filing of the the Declaration of Panos Lagos in Support of Plaintiff's Trial Brie 13 || under seal. Accordingly, Plaintiff’s Request to file the Declaration of Panos Lagos in Support o 14 || Plaintiffs Trial Brief under seal is granted. 15 IV. ORDER 16 Based on the foregoing, it is HEREBY ORDERED that: 17 1. Plaintiff's Request to Seal the Declaration of Panos Lagos in Support of Plaintiff? 18 Trial Brief is granted; 19 2. The Clerk is instructed to file the Declaration of Panos Lagos in Support of Plaintiff? 20 Trial Brief under seal; 21 3. The Declaration of Panos Lagos in Support of Plaintiffs Trial Brief shall b 22 maintained under seal until the conclusion of this case and any appellate proceedings, 23 at which time only the Court will have access to them. 24 IS SO ORDERED. 25 . - antler A, lh be — 26 || Dated: July 9, 2025 Ph hata Vim Lehn 27 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 28

ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S REQUEST TO SEAL DOCUMENT PURSUANT TO LR. 141 Lesher v. City of Anderson, et al.