Campbell v. Grounds
- Beth Freeman
- 5:12-cv-06089
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 5
In Campbell v. Grounds, Judge Freeman granted all three motions to seal information about a witness’s identity in filings concerning Claim 10.
Campbell and Grounds, whose filings were partially sealed, and the witness whose identity the court found needed protection for safety reasons.
What happened
In Campbell v. Grounds, Campbell and Grounds asked the court to seal parts of their filings about Campbell’s habeas claim 10 and later legal authorities. The filings included briefs and exhibits.
The court found that the requested information concerned the identity of a witness who gave testimony after trial. It ruled that public disclosure could threaten the safety of one or more people and granted all three sealing motions.
Judge Beth Labson Freeman issued the order on October 24, 2022. The order addressed sealing only and did not decide the merits of claim 10.
The detailed version
- Campbell v. Grounds · No. 5:12-cv-06089
- Beth Freeman
- Oct. 24, 2022
Background
Campbell and Grounds submitted briefing concerning Campbell’s claim 10 for habeas relief and supplemental legal authorities. Campbell moved to seal portions of his memorandum supporting claim 10, supporting exhibits, reply concerning claim 10, and reply concerning supplemental authorities. Grounds moved to seal portions of his opposition memorandum. The court later required charts supporting the sealing requests.
Legal standard
Because the filings were more than tangentially related to the merits of the case, the court required a showing of “compelling reasons” to seal them. The court also applied Northern District of California Civil Local Rule 79-5, which requires an explanation of the private or public interests supporting sealing, the harm that would result from disclosure, why less restrictive alternatives would not suffice, supporting evidence when necessary, and narrowly tailored redactions.
Court’s reasoning and ruling
The parties sought to seal information identifying a witness who provided post-trial testimony. They explained that sealing was needed to protect that individual’s safety. The court found that the parties met the compelling-reasons standard and that the proposed redactions were narrowly tailored.
The court granted the sealing motions identified as ECF Nos. 204, 206, and 207. The order granted the specified redactions and sealed exhibits and portions of Campbell’s supporting materials, Grounds’s opposition, and Campbell’s replies. This order addressed access to those filings; it did not decide the merits of claim 10. Judge Beth Labson Freeman signed the order.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.