Vidala Aaronoff v. Curtis R. Olson

• Court: District Court, C.D. California
• Decided: December 29, 2022
• Docket: 2:21-cv-09747
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

Case 2:21-cv-09747-SB-PD Document 71 Filed 12/29/22 Page 1 of 1 Page ID #:1105

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

JANE DOE, Case No. 2:21-cv-09747-SB-PD

Plaintiff,

v. ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE

CURTIS R. OLSON et al.,

Defendants.

Plaintiff Jane Doe is litigating this suit anonymously without having obtained leave of court. A complaint must ordinarily “include the names of all parties,” Fed R. Civ. P. 10(a), and a party’s use of a fictitious name “runs afoul of the public’s common law right of access to judicial proceedings,” Does I thru XXIII v. Advanced Textile Corp., 214 F.3d 1058, 1067 (9th Cir. 2000). Parties may proceed anonymously when “special circumstances justify secrecy.” Id. A district court must consider various factors in determining whether to allow a party to proceed anonymously, including “(1) the severity of the threatened harm, (2) the reasonableness of the anonymous party’s fears, and (3) the anonymous party’s vulnerability to . . . retaliation.” Id. at 1068. The district court must balance these factors against the public’s right of access.

Plaintiff is hereby ordered to show cause in writing no later than January 9, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. why the Court should continue allowing her to proceed under the fictitious name Jane Doe. Failure to timely reply to this order to show cause will result in disclosure of her name. Plaintiff shall limit her response to addressing the narrow question presented in this Order to Show Cause and shall not use the response as an opportunity to argue the merits of any pending defense motion.

Date: December 29, 2022 ___________________________ Stanley Blumenfeld, Jr. United States District Judge