Mitchell v. County of Contra Costa

Background

Defendants filed a motion for partial summary judgment and an administrative motion to file two supporting exhibits under seal. The order addresses only the sealing motion.

The exhibits were Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training profiles for defendants Thomas Brook and Kyle Emley. Defendants sought to seal the exhibits in their entirety, arguing that they were portions of individual defendants’ personnel files and were presumptively protected from disclosure. The exhibits related to defendants’ arguments concerning plaintiff’s municipal-liability claim under Monell v. Department of Social Services of City of New York.

Legal standard

Because the exhibits were filed in connection with a dispositive motion, the court applied the Ninth Circuit’s compelling-reasons standard. Under that standard, a party seeking to seal judicial records must identify specific facts showing that compelling reasons for secrecy outweigh the public’s general right to access court records. A general showing of good cause, embarrassment, or the confidential nature of police personnel files is not enough. The court also noted that the local rules require parties to consider reasonable alternatives, minimize sealed material, and avoid sealing entire documents when redaction would suffice.

Ruling

The court stated that it had denied the portion of the partial-summary-judgment motion concerning the Monell claim without prejudice to defendants’ filing a future motion after additional discovery. Because the court did not rely on Exhibits I and K when ruling on the partial-summary-judgment motion, it denied defendants’ administrative motion to file those exhibits under seal as moot.

The court nevertheless stated that the practical effect was that the exhibits would remain sealed. It instructed defendants that any future request to seal those exhibits or other exhibits must satisfy the compelling-reasons standard and the applicable Civil Local Rules. The order did not decide the underlying partial-summary-judgment motion.