V. v. Decker
- John Cronan
- 1:20-cv-10190
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In H.L.V. v. Decker, Judge Cronan directed the petitioner to provide more information before ruling on his request to use initials.
H.L.V., whose request to proceed using initials was not yet decided and who was ordered to provide additional information; the respondents and the Court were also involved in the anonymity request.
What happened
H.L.V. asked to proceed anonymously using only his initials in this immigration case. The respondents took no position on the request.
The court explained that court filings are generally presumed accessible and that it must independently decide whether using a pseudonym is justified. One relevant consideration is whether the petitioner's identity has remained confidential in earlier proceedings.
Because the existing record did not show how confidential H.L.V.'s identity had been in earlier immigration proceedings, Judge John P. Cronan ordered him to file a supplemental submission by December 16, 2020. The submission had to describe any steps taken to protect his identity and whether his identity was publicly available in those proceedings.
The detailed version
- V. v. Decker · No. 1:20-cv-10190
- John Cronan
- Dec. 10, 2020
Background
H.L.V. asked the Court for permission to proceed anonymously using only his initials. The respondents took no position on that request.
Court's analysis
The Court stated that the petition and other filings are judicial documents subject to a presumption of public access. It explained that courts consider several factors when deciding whether to allow a party to proceed under a pseudonym, including whether the party's identity has remained confidential so far.
The Court found that the record did not show how confidential H.L.V.'s identity had been in earlier proceedings, including proceedings before the Immigration Judge.
Order
The Court directed H.L.V. to submit additional information by December 16, 2020. He was ordered to discuss any measures taken to protect his identity in his ongoing immigration proceedings and whether his identity was publicly available in those proceedings. The opinion does not state a final ruling on the request to proceed using initials.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.