Benn v. Morrison
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:18-cv-00722
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Benn v. Morrison, Judge Schofield granted defendants’ request to seal two exhibits, struck their declaration, and ordered a corrected filing.
The defendants, who were required to correct and refile their declaration, and the public’s access to Exhibits I and J.
What happened
Benn v. Morrison involved defendants’ motion for partial summary judgment and a supporting declaration whose exhibits did not comply with the court’s filing rules.
The court granted defendants’ request to file Exhibits I and J under seal, struck the declaration, and allowed defendants to refile it with more than 15 exhibits if the total stayed within 225 pages. The court set October 2, 2020, as the refiling deadline.
Judge Lorna G. Schofield also required electronic, searchable copies of any submitted hearing or deposition transcripts when available and not unduly burdensome. The Clerk was directed to strike the original filing and close the sealing request.
The detailed version
- Benn v. Morrison · No. 1:18-cv-00722
- Lorna Schofield
- Sept. 23, 2020
Background
Defendants filed a motion for partial summary judgment. The exhibits attached to the supporting declaration did not comply with the court’s Individual Rules. Defendants then asked to file Exhibits I and J under seal.
Ruling on Sealing
The court granted the request to seal Exhibits I and J. It explained that judicial documents generally carry a public-access presumption, but that access is not absolute and must be balanced against competing considerations. The court found that the proposed sealing was narrowly tailored and necessary to prevent dissemination of prejudicial information.
Filing Instructions
The court struck the declaration. Defendants were permitted to file more than 15 exhibits, provided that the total number of pages did not exceed 225. The court ordered defendants to refile the declaration by October 2, 2020, with the video statements in Exhibits I and J filed under seal. For any hearing or deposition transcript submitted, defendants were also required to provide an electronic, text-searchable courtesy copy of the entire proceeding if one was available, unless doing so would be unduly burdensome.
Disposition
Judge Lorna G. Schofield granted the sealing request, struck the declaration, and directed the Clerk of Court to strike Docket No. 160 and close Docket No. 163. This order addressed filing and sealing matters; it did not rule on the merits of the partial-summary-judgment motion.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.