1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 YOLANDA SANCHEZ, et al. 12 Case No. 2:20-cv-01146 MCS (PVCx) 13 Plaintiff, 14 v. PROTECTIVE ORDER 15 COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, et al. 16 Defendant. 17 18 1. INTRODUCTION 19 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 20 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 21 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public 22 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may 23 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to 24 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this 25 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to 26 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 27 1 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth 2 in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to 3 file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the 4 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party 5 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 6 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 7 The case arises from the January 2, 2019 death of Plaintiff son, NICHOLAS 8 SANCHEZ (“Decedent”), while housed in Module 4700 of the Men’s Central Jail. 9 Decedent was nineteen (19) years old at the time of his death. The Medical 10 Examiner determined the manner of death was an accident and the cause of death 11 was combined drug toxicity from codeine, morphine, and methamphetamine. The 12 gravamen of Plaintiff’s complaint is that Defendants failed to protect Decedent from 13 other hostile inmates and otherwise provide timely medical care. 14 As explained below, this action is likely to involve materials protected by 15 California Evidence Code section 1040, California Code of Civil Procedure section 16 129, California Penal Code section 632, the official information privilege or other 17 state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law prohibiting 18 dissemination and disclosure. Additionally, this action may involve other 19 proprietary information concerning police practices and security protocols for which 20 special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than 21 prosecution of this action is warranted. 22 In terms of discovery, Defendants anticipate that a protective order will be 23 necessary in connection with the following items of evidence: 1) surveillance 24 footage from the interior of the Men’s Central Jail which may include information 25 about sensitive security features inside the jail and reveal the identities of inmates 26 receiving medication, medical treatment or otherwise engaging in activities with a 27 reasonable expectation of privacy; 2) recordings of telephone calls made from inside 1 professionals, and clergy; 3) personnel and administrative records of peace officers; 2 4) mental health and medical records protected by HIPPA; 5) Photographs of a 3 death scene taken by a coroner; and 6) such other evidence for which dissemination 4 should be limited for use in this action only. 5 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt 6 resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately 7 protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the 8 parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for 9 and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and 10 serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this 11 matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as 12 confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good 13 faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and 14 there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case. 15 2. DEFINITIONS 16 2.1 Action: Yolanda Sanchez v. County of Los Angeles, et al. 17 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 18 designation of information or items under this Order. 19 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 20 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 21 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 22 the Good Cause Statement. 23 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 24 their support staff). 25 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 26 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 27 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 1 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 2 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 3 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 4 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 5 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 6 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 7 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 8 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 9 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 10 counsel. 11 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 12 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 13 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 14 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and 15 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm 16 which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 17 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 18 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 19 support staffs). 20 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 21 Discovery Material in this Action. 22 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 23 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 24 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 25 and their employees and subcontractors. 26 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 27 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 1 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 2 Material from a Producing Party. 3 3. SCOPE 4 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 5 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 6 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 7 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 8 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 9 Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the 10 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 11 Likewise, the mere existence of this stipulation and Order shall not serve as a basis 12 to preclude the admission of any protected materials as evidence at the time of trial. 13 4. DURATION 14 4.1 Except for information specified in 4.2, the confidentiality obligations 15 imposed by this Order will remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise 16 in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition will be deemed to be 17 the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this Action, with or without 18 prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and exhaustion of all 19 appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time 20 limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to 21 applicable law. 22 4.2 If the case proceeds to trial, information designated as CONFIDENTIAL 23 under this protective order that is authorized for use at trial by stipulation, order or is 24 otherwise admitted as an exhibit will become public and will be presumptively 25 available to all members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons 26 supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge 27 in advance of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good 1 cause” showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling 2 reasons” standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). 3 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 4 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 5 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection 6 under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material 7 that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must 8 designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or 9 written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, 10 documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not 11 swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 12 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 13 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 14 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 15 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating 16 Party to sanctions. 17 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 18 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 19 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 20 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 21 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 22 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 23 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 24 produced. 25 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 26 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, 27 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that 1 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a 2 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing 3 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate 4 markings in the margins). 5 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for 6 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has 7 indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the 8 inspection and before the designation, all of the material made available for 9 inspection will be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has 10 identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must 11 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this 12 Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must 13 affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. 14 If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the 15 Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making 16 appropriate markings in the margins). 17 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify the 18 Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all 19 protected testimony. 20 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for 21 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the 22 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 23 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants 24 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, will identify the protected 25 portion(s). 26 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 27 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 1 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 2 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 3 Order. 4 5.4 Independent Source The protections conferred by this Stipulation and 5 Order shall not apply to materials which have been lawfully obtained by the 6 Receiving party through means independent of discovery in this case even if the 7 Designating Party later designates the same materials as CONFIDENTIAL in 8 accordance with the provisions of this Order. 9 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 10 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 11 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 12 Scheduling Order. 13 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party will initiate the dispute 14 resolution process (and, if necessary, file a discovery motion) under Local Rule 37.1 15 et seq. 16 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding will be on 17 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 18 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 19 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 20 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties will 21 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 22 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 23 challenge. 24 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 25 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 26 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 27 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such 1 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 2 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 3 DISPOSITION). 4 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 5 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 6 authorized under this Order. 7 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 8 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 9 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 10 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 11 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 12 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 13 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 14 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 15 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 16 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 17 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 18 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 19 (d) the Court and its personnel; 20 (e) court reporters and their staff; 21 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 22 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 23 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 24 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 25 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 26 (h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in the 27 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party 1 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 2 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 3 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 4 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 5 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except 6 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 7 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 8 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 9 10 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 11 IN OTHER LITIGATION 12 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 13 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 14 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 15 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 16 will include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 17 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order 18 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 19 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification will include 20 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 21 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 22 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 23 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 24 the subpoena or court order will not produce any information designated in this 25 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the 26 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 27 permission. The Designating Party will bear the burden and expense of seeking 1 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action 2 to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 3 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 4 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 5 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 6 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information 7 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the 8 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 9 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 10 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 11 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 12 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 13 confidential information, then the Party will: 14 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 15 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 16 agreement with a Non-Party; 17 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 18 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 19 specific description of the information requested; and 20 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 21 Non-Party, if requested. 22 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 23 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party 24 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery 25 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party will 26 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the 27 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. 1 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party will bear the burden and expense 2 of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 3 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 4 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 5 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 6 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 7 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 8 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 9 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 10 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 11 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 12 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 13 PROTECTED MATERIAL 14 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 15 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 16 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 17 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever 18 procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production 19 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and 20 (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a 21 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work 22 product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated 23 protective order submitted to the court. 24 12. MISCELLANEOUS 25 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 26 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 27 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 1 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 2 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 3 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 4 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 5 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 6 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 7 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material 8 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information 9 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 10 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 11 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 12 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 13 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in 14 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 15 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 16 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 17 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same 18 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies 19 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or 20 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, 21 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any 22 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to 23 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 24 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert 25 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such 26 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 27 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in 1 14. Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal 2 || contempt proceedings, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary 3 || authorities, or other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court. 4 5 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN BY THE PARTIES’ STIPULATION, IT IS SO 6 || ORDERED. 7 8 : 9 || DATED: November 12, 2020 fuk. Mt 10 United States Magistrate Judge 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 I, _____________________________ [full name], of _________________ 5 [full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and 6 understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States 7 District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in the case of 8 YOLANDA SANCHEZ, et al. v. COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, et al. (Case No. 9 2:20-cv-01146-MCS-PVC). I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms 10 of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to 11 so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I 12 solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that 13 is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict 14 compliance with the provisions of this Order. 15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court 16 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this 17 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after 18 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [full 19 name] of _______________________________________ [full address and 20 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with 21 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 22 Order. 23 Date: ______________________________________ 24 City and State where signed: _________________________________ 25 26 Printed name: _______________________________ 27