Girl Scouts of the United States of America v. Boy Scouts of America

Background

Girl Scouts of the United States of America moved on December 23, 2020, to file certain pages and exhibits under seal or with redactions in the public record. The materials were submitted in connection with Girl Scouts’ opposition to Boy Scouts of America’s motion for summary judgment.

The court explained that judicial documents carry a constitutional and common-law presumption of public access. It said this access promotes court accountability, public monitoring, and public understanding of the judicial process. The court therefore reviewed the request document by document.

Rulings

The court approved redactions of personally identifying information—such as names, addresses, and email addresses—belonging to nonparties, including minors. It found that this information had little relevance to the lawsuit’s merits and that redaction was proper under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2.

The court also found that materials in the following filings could be sealed or redacted to protect Girl Scouts’ proprietary business, strategic, and marketing information, and noted that the parties did not dispute those protections:

- ECF No. 143. - ECF No. 144, Exhibit 37. - ECF No. 149, Exhibits 97, 123, 144, 227, and 290.

The court did not grant the requests concerning ECF No. 143, Exhibit 13, and ECF No. 149, Exhibit 132, at that time because of apparent clerical problems. For Exhibit 13, the submitted document was already redacted, preventing the court from reviewing the information underlying the requested redaction. For Exhibit 132, the submission did not contain the highlighted portions identified in the motion. The court ordered Girl Scouts to resubmit corrected versions of both exhibits for further consideration.

The court denied the requests to seal or redact the specified materials in ECF Nos. 142 through 149 to the extent those materials did not contain personally identifying information. The court found the materials relevant to the parties’ claims and defenses or to damages, publicly known, or lacking proprietary or sensitive information. The affected filings and exhibits were ECF No. 142 and Exhibit 287; ECF No. 144, Exhibit 49; ECF No. 145 and Exhibit 285; ECF No. 147; ECF No. 148; and ECF No. 149, Exhibits 96, 107, and 137.

Disposition

Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein granted in part and denied in part Girl Scouts’ motion to seal or redact. The court ordered Girl Scouts to refile ECF Nos. 142 through 149 in accordance with the order and to submit corrected versions of ECF No. 143, Exhibit 13, and ECF No. 149, Exhibit 132, for further consideration. The clerk was instructed to terminate the open motion, ECF No. 141. This order addressed access to and redaction of court filings; it did not decide the parties’ underlying claims or Boy Scouts’ summary-judgment motion.