R. v. Lehman

United States District Court for the Northern District of California

R. v. Lehman

Trial Court Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 R., Case No. 3:23-cv-06567-JD

8 Plaintiff, ORDER RE PSEUDONYM v. 9

10 DANIELLE LEHMAN, et al., Defendants. 11

12 13 Plaintiff R. seeks a referral of an asylum application to Immigration Court. Dkt. No. 1 ¶ 1. 14 R’s initial request to proceed pseudonymously, Dkt. No. 5, was denied without prejudice because 15 the request lacked a detailed justification for anonymity. Dkt. No. 8. R. has filed a renewed 16 request to proceed pseudonymously. Dkt. No. 12. All defendants have been served, Dkt. Nos. 9, 17 10, and the deadline to oppose R.’s request has passed. 18 R.’s renewed request satisfies Does I thru XXIII v. Advanced Textile Corp.,

214 F.3d 1058 19

(9th Cir. 2000). R. states a fear of persecution if the asylum application is denied and R. is 20 required to return to Indonesia. Dkt. No. 12 at 4. This is based on allegations of harassment, 21 discrimination, and violence in Indonesia directed against gay men, which R identifies as in the 22 asylum application.

Id.

Little, if any, prejudice will result to the opposing parties from use of a 23 pseudonym, and R.’s true identity is known to the Asylum Office. Id. at 6. Overall, R. has 24 demonstrated that his “need for anonymity outweighs prejudice to the opposing party and the 25 public’s interest in knowing the party’s identity.” Does,

214 F.3d at 1068

. 26 Consequently, plaintiff may proceed as “R.” in all publicly filed court documents. Plaintiff 27 will be referred to as R. in all pleadings and other documents related to this litigation, as well as in 1 disclose plaintiff's identity to any other person or entity. Ifa situation arises in which disclosure 2 || may be necessary to defend against the claims, defendants will meet and confer with R. ona 3 method of proceeding. The Court will resolve any disagreements with respect to the procedure. 4 This order may be terminated as warranted by future circumstances. 5 IT IS SO ORDERED. 6 || Dated: January 23, 2024 7 8 JAMES/PONATO 9 United ftates District Judge 10 11 a 12

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Reference

Status
Unknown