Tamrat v. Marlowe

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 HERMAN TAMRAT, Case No. 20-cv-07623-PJH

8 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO FILE 9 v. UNDER SEAL

10 ADAM MARLOWE, et al., Re: Dkt. No. 28 Defendants. 11

12 13 Plaintiff, a state prisoner, proceeds with a pro se civil rights complaint under 42 14 U.S.C. § 1983. This case continues with allegations that the two defendant sheriff’s 15 deputies used excessive force against plaintiff at the Sonoma County Main Adult 16 Detention Facility (“MADF”). Defendants have filed a motion for summary judgment and 17 have submitted six videos from inside of the MADF. The videos show the inside of an 18 inmate housing module and the hallways and booking area of the MADF. Defendants 19 note that the videos could be studied for tactical use by the public, such as future and/or 20 friends and family of current inmates. This could jeopardize the health and safety of staff 21 and inmates. Defendants request that the videos be filed under seal. 22 “The proponent of sealing bears the burden with respect to sealing. A failure to 23 meet that burden means that the default posture of public access prevails.” Kamakana v. 24 City & County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1182 (9th Cir. 2006). In this district, requests 25 to file documents under seal in civil cases are governed by Civil Local Rule 79-5, which 26 provides that “[n]o document may be filed under seal . . . except pursuant to a Court 27 order that authorizes the sealing of the particular document, or portions thereof[;]” and 1 document, or portions thereof, is privileged, or protectable as a trade secret, or otherwise 2 entitled to protection under the law. Civ. L.R. 79-5(a). In particular, “[t]he request must be 3 narrowly tailored to seek sealing only of sealable material. . . .” Id. 4 Defendants have met their burden. Defendants note that plaintiff will be provided 5 the videos and they have shown that the videos are entitled to protection under the law to 6 ensure the health and safety of inmates and staff at the MADF. Defendants’ request is 7 narrowly tailored and the remainder of the motion for summary judgment is open to the 8 public and describes the substance of the videos without jeopardizing the safety of 9 inmates and staff. Defendants’ motion to file under seal (Docket No. 28) is GRANTED 10 and the clerk is requested to file the videos under SEAL.1 11 IT IS SO ORDERED. 12 Dated: August 2, 2021 13 14 /s/ Phyllis J. Hamilton PHYLLIS J. HAMILTON 15 United States District Judge 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27