S.D. v. Genalo

Opinion

SER EE 1 USDC SDNY United States Attorney ~ DOCUMENT Southern District of New York ff ELECTRONICALLY FILED, □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ DOC #: 86 Chambers Street DATE FILED: 5/1 8/22 New York, New York 10007 May 18, 2022 By ECF The Honorable Barbara C. Moses United States Magistrate Judge Southern District of New York 500 Pearl Street New York, New York 10007 Re: Diaz v. Decker, et al., No. 22 Civ. 3063 (VSB) (BCM) Dear Judge Moses: This Office represents the government in the above-referenced immigration habeas matter. The government’s opposition in response to the habeas petition is due on May 18, 2022. I write respectfully, with the petitioner’s consent, to request permission to file under seal a declaration regarding the petitioner’s medical and mental health status and treatment, which also attaches his medical records from the detention facility. Consistent with this Court’s Individual Rules, these documents will be filed under seal on ECF and electronically related to this letter motion. The medical declaration that the government requests permission to file under seal, as well as the accompanying medical records themselves, discuss petitioner’s medical and mental health in significantly more detail than his habeas petition. The government respectfully submits that sealing is appropriate notwithstanding the presumption of access discussed by the Second Circuit in Lugosch v. Pyramid Co. of Onondaga, 435 F.3d 110, 119-20 (2d Cir. 2006), in light of the privacy interests of individuals in their medical records. See, e.g., Barnwell v. FCI Danbury, No. 3:10 Civ. 01301 (DJS), 2011 WL 5330215, at *5 (D. Conn. Nov. 3, 2011) (noting a rebuttable presumption of openness of court filings but granting motion to seal in light of federal law’s treatment of such records as confidential pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104-191 (1996)). Courts in this District have permitted the sealing of medical records, even if specific details relating to the individual’s health appear on the record. See, e.g., United States v. Needham, 460 F. Supp. 3d 323, 324 n.1 (S.D.N.Y. 2020); United States v. Estevez, No. 18 Cr. 669 (JPO), 2020 WL 1911207, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 20, 2020). I thank the Court for its consideration of this request.

Respectfully submitted, DAMIAN WILLIAMS United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York By: /s/Tara Schwartz TARA SCHWARTZ Assistant United States Attorney 86 Chambers Street, Third Floor New York, New York 10007 Tel.: (212) 637-2633 Email: Tara.Schwartz@usdo}.gov

cc: Counsel of record (via ECF)

Application GRANTED. Defendants are permitted to file the declaration under seal. SO ORDERED.

Barbara Moses United States Magistrate Judge May 18, 2022