John Doe v. City Of New York
- P. Castel
- 1:22-cv-02690
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In John Doe v. City of New York, Judge Castel kept an expert report sealed temporarily and required a renewed, redacted sealing request.
The parties, their expert-related submissions, and members of the public seeking access to the expert report.
What happened
In John Doe v. City of New York, the defendants asked the court to keep the plaintiff’s expert report under seal because it contained information covered by confidentiality and protective orders. The court reviewed the report itself rather than relying only on those orders.
The court said it was unclear that sealing the entire report would protect any legally important interests. It allowed the parties to discuss proposed redactions and submit a new request explaining what interests the redactions would protect.
Judge Castel directed the Clerk to keep the report sealed temporarily. The parties must file any renewed sealing request by March 29, 2024; otherwise, the court will unseal the report.
The detailed version
- John Doe v. City Of New York · No. 1:22-cv-02690
- P. Castel
- Mar. 15, 2024
Background
The defendants asked the court to permit them to file under seal Exhibit A to a declaration supporting their motion to prevent the testimony of the plaintiff’s expert, Joseph Pollini. The requested exhibit was identified in the court’s discussion as the plaintiff’s expert report at ECF No. 144-2. The defendants said the report contained information covered by a confidentiality and protective order and an earlier sealing order.
Court’s analysis
The court conducted its own review of the document. It stated that exchanging documents under a confidentiality or protective order, by itself, is not enough to justify sealing them. The court found it unclear that protecting the entire report through sealing would protect any legally recognized higher values. The court therefore directed the parties to meet and confer about proposed redactions and to explain in a renewed sealing request what interests those redactions would protect.
Ruling
The court directed the Clerk to keep ECF No. 144-2 under seal temporarily while the parties made any further submission. It required any renewed motion to seal to be filed by March 29, 2024. The court stated that it would unseal the expert report if no renewed motion was filed by that date. The opinion does not state that the court granted or denied the request to seal the entire report as a final disposition.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.