McGee v. The City of Hercules

4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA ANTHONY MCGEE, Case No. 23-cv-05161-TSH 8 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND 9 v. DENYING IN PART MOTION TO SEAL 10 THE CITY OF HERCULES, et al., Re: Dkt. No. 71 11 Defendants.

13 Plaintiff Anthony McGee has filed a motion to seal, which the Court construes as a motion to seal pursuant to Civil Local Rule 79-5. ECF No. 71.

15 “[T]he courts of this country recognize a general right to inspect and copy public records and documents, including judicial records and documents.” Nixon v. Warner Commc’ns, 435 U.S. 17 589, 597 (1978) (footnote omitted). Although that right is not absolute, “‘a strong presumption in favor of access’ is the starting point.” Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006) (quoting Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1135 (9th Cir. 2003)). This presumption “is ‘based on the need for federal courts, although independent— indeed, particularly because they are independent—to have a measure of accountability and for the public to have confidence in the administration of justice.’” Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1096 (9th Cir. 2016) (quoting United States v. Amodeo, 71 F.3d 1044, 1048 (2d Cir. 1995)). Access in civil cases is properly denied for clearly justifiable reasons: to protect against “gratif[ication of] private spite or promot[ion of] public scandal” or to preclude court dockets from becoming “reservoirs of libelous statements.” Nixon, 435 U.S. at 597 (citations omitted). “ the import of Juvenile Court dispositions, records, extracts from depositions, [and] declarations.”

2 || Mot. at 6. Courts have found that juvenile court records contain sensitive information that outweighs the presumption of public access and may be filed under seal. See A.C. v. City of Santa Clara, 2015 WL 4076364, at *2 (N.D. Cal. July 2, 2015) (citing cases). One document Plaintiff himself filed does contain juvenile court records and should therefore be sealed. Accordingly, the || Court GRANTS Plaintiff's motion as to ECF Nos. 66. However, none of the remaining documents Plaintiff requests be sealed contain juvenile court records, and those that mention || juvenile court proceedings do so in the context of reference to other proceedings that are already in || the public record. Accordingly, the Court DENIES Plaintiffs motion as to the following 10 documents: ECF Nos. 14, 20, 2, 29-30, 31, 38, 50, 57, 67-69.

11 Plaintiff is advised that any future requests to seal must comply with Civil Local Rule 79- || 5.

13 IT IS SO ORDERED.

15 || Dated: June 6, 2025 6 TAA. |} THOMAS S. HIXSON 17 United States Magistrate Judge