PHE, Inc. v. Department of Justice

139 F.R.D. 249, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16382, 1991 WL 238728
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedNovember 14, 1991
DocketCiv. A. No. 90-693 (JHG/PJA)
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 139 F.R.D. 249 (PHE, Inc. v. Department of Justice) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
PHE, Inc. v. Department of Justice, 139 F.R.D. 249, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16382, 1991 WL 238728 (D.D.C. 1991).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

PATRICK J. ATTRIDGE, United States Magistrate Judge.

The plaintiffs, PHE, Incorporated and Philip D. Harvey, seek injunctive relief precluding their criminal prosecution under the federal obscenity statutes. The history and background of this litigation is found in PHE, Inc. v. United States Dept. of Justice, 743 F.Supp. 15 (D.D.C.1990). At issue are various motions seeking protective orders and orders compelling discovery responses.

In the first of these pending discovery motions, the plaintiffs seek a protective order “strictly limiting the use of PHE product reviews to this litigation and prohibiting dissemination of these materials to persons other than the attorneys and staff involved in this litigation.”1 They contend that they “have developed, at great expense, an independent review screening process to evaluate all material prior to distribution.”2 The process involves the submission of the products to be distributed to two independent reviewers who, in turn, provide PHE with their evaluation of the product in the light of the Supreme Court’s Miller v. California test.3 The plaintiffs contend that they have paid reviewers between $70.00 and $100.00 an hour and have expended over $426,000.00 on this process since implementing it in 1986. They allege that these reviews are confidential commercial research and that public dissemination would work to their detriment because competitors would get the benefit of the reviewers’ critique at no cost to the competitors. Further, reviewers may be exposed to civil litigation if vendors disagree with the reviewer’s evaluation of the product, and therefore, the potential for this litigation may impact on their ability to obtain otherwise qualified reviewers.

The defendants oppose the entry of a protective order, asserting that the plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate “good cause” as required by Rule 26(c) and that they have waived whatever rights they may have had to a protective order by releasing 50 reviews to defendants. With respect to the forms themselves, the defendants urge that the plaintiffs failed to establish that the review forms are “confidential commercial research”, and, more importantly, that the plaintiffs have not identified any “specific harm” they will suffer if the reviews are made public. The defendants contend that the plaintiffs fears are based on speculation and conjecture and argue that the “plaintiffs are really seeking ... to withhold from public exposure the true nature of their distribution business.”4

[252]*252To establish “good cause” a movant must articulate a real and specific harm, Avirgan v. Hull, 118 F.R.D. 257, 261-62 (D.C.C.1987), and not just “stereotyped and conclusory statements.” Id. “With respect to the claim of confidential business information, this standard demands that the company prove that the disclosure will result in a clearly defined and very serious injury to its business.” John Does I-VI v. Yogi, 110 F.R.D. 629, 632 (D.C.C.1986) (quoting United States v. Exxon Corp., 94 F.R.D. 250, 251 (D.D.C 1981)).

The plaintiffs’ argument that competitors will have the benefit of their financial investment is defective for two reasons. First, it presumes that competitors do not engage in the same type of screening at their own expense, a premise not argued or established. Secondly, the plaintiffs use the reviews to determine which products not to distribute based on a reviewer’s judgment that the product violates one of the Miller criteria. If a competitor relies on that same judgment, it too forgoes the opportunity for profit by not distributing that product; thus, disclosure has not operated to the plaintiffs’ economic disadvantage. It is apparent, however, that the real reason that the plaintiffs engage in this prophylactic endeavor is to provide them “with a unique and innovative defense in the event of [prosecution]” and a ready supply of expert witnesses. Letter from PHE to reviewer, dated June 1, 1989 (Defendants’ Exhibit 145).

Moreover, the plaintiffs cannot disclose some reviews without limitations and, thereafter, seek to put limits on an opponents’ use of other similar reviews. Once a party voluntarily discloses documents without limitations, it is precluded from objecting on the grounds of confidential commercial research to full and complete disclosure of similar documents. 8 Wright & Miller, Federal Practice & Procedures § 2035 at 262-63 (1970). Nor is the plaintiffs’ argument that disclosure will bring about litigation against reviewers persuasive. This argument is wholly speculative and does not rise to the level of specific real harm required to be shown for entry of a protective order.

The plaintiffs also move to include the reviewers’ rough notes within the bounds of a protective order as well as company records which record the results of the experts’ reviews. The plaintiffs rely on the same arguments urged in support of their motion with respect to the review forms.

These arguments are equally unpersuasive with respect to the issue of “good cause” as to these documents, and therefore, these motions are denied.

The next series of motions concern the adequacy of the plaintiffs’ responses to the defendants’ second set of interrogatories, and the plaintiffs’ motion for a protective order with respect to the defendants’ third discovery requests consisting of requests for admissions and interrogatories that are directed separately to the plaintiffs.

Rather than respond separately to the plaintiffs’ motion for a protective order, the defendants have moved to compel further answers to the plaintiffs’ partial objections to their second interrogatories and have incorporated in that motion their objections to the plaintiffs’ motion for a protective order, treating their two waves of discovery requests interchangeably.

With regard to the plaintiffs' refusal to respond, seriatim, to their third discovery requests, the defendants argue that the only legitimate grounds for failure to respond is either relevancy or privilege. They argue that the discovery is unquestionably relevant and that in so far as privilege is concerned, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 36(b) makes any admission pursuant to a Request for Admission inadmissable against that party in any other proceeding. Therefore, the defendants conclude the plaintiffs’ concern regarding “potential effect [in] the criminal case, is ... unwarranted.”5

In response, PHE and Harvey assert that the third set of interrogatories “seek[s] the plaintiffs’ theories concerning the applica- . tion of the Miller v. California test to the specific items at issue in Utah,” which mat[253]*253ters are protected by the work product and attorney-client privileges;6 and, furthermore, that the protection afforded by Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 36(b) is illusory in the context of this case because “admission[s] can improperly facilitate [the prosecutor’s] preparation of the criminal case.”7

The defendants argue that the “good faith of the prosecutors lies at the heart of this [case]”8

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Bluebook (online)
139 F.R.D. 249, 1991 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16382, 1991 WL 238728, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/phe-inc-v-department-of-justice-dcd-1991.