McKenzie Olivares, et al. v. County of Stanislaus, et al.

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA MCKENZIE OLIVARES, et al., No. 2:22-cv-00753-DC-CSK 12 Plaintiffs, 13 v. ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFFS’ REQUEST TO FILE DOCUMENTS UNDER COUNTY OF STANISLAUS, et al., SEAL 15 Defendants. (Doc. No. 76) 17 On February 25, 2025, Plaintiffs McKenzie Olivares, Dylan Olivares, W.O., and M.D.

18 filed a notice of their request to file under seal documents attached as exhibits to the declaration of Robert R. Powell filed in support of Plaintiffs’ opposition to Defendants’ motion for summary judgment. (Doc. No. 64.) On December 2, 2025, the court denied that request without prejudice because “Plaintiffs’ request is not narrowly tailored to address only those portions of the documents containing minor Plaintiffs’ names and birthdates.” (Doc. No. 74 at 2.) The court ordered that Plaintiffs either file a renewed request to file under seal or file unredacted versions of the subject documents within fourteen days of the entry of the court’s order. (Id. at 2–3.)

25 On December 16, 2025, Plaintiffs timely filed the pending renewed notice of request to file under seal exhibits 6, 8, 15 and 27 to the declaration of Robert R. Powell filed in support of Plaintiffs’ opposition to Defendants’ motion for summary judgment. (Doc. No. 76.) On that same date, Plaintiffs served on all parties and emailed the court unredacted versions of the subject documents and a request to file under seal, as required by the Local Rules. Defendants did not submit an opposition to this request.

3 All documents filed with the court are presumptively public. San Jose Mercury News, Inc. v. U.S. Dist. Court, 187 F.3d 1096, 1103 (9th Cir. 1999) (“It is well-established that the fruits of pretrial discovery are, in the absence of a court order to the contrary, presumptively public.”).

6 However, courts may permit a party to file under seal documents, such as briefing in support of (or in opposition to) motions for summary judgment and exhibits thereto, where that party shows “compelling reasons” to support maintaining secrecy of those documents. Kamakana v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006); Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1101 (9th Cir. 2016) (applying “compelling reasons” standard to motions that are “more than tangentially related to the merits”). “In general, ‘compelling reasons’ sufficient to . . . justify sealing court records exist when such ‘court files might . . . become a vehicle for improper purposes,’ such as the use of records to gratify private spite, promote public scandal, circulate libelous statements, or release trade secrets.” Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179 (quoting Nixon v. Warner Commc’ns, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 597 & n.7 (1978)).

16 Plaintiffs argue that the documents they seek to file under seal consist of minors’ medical records, and that “[m]edical information qualifies as a legally protected privacy interest under California law.” (Req. at 2.) Indeed, maintaining the confidentiality of medical information is a compelling reason to file a document under seal. Domingo v. Brennan, 690 F. App’x 928 (2017) (holding trial court did not error in granting party’s motion to file documents containing sensitive medical information under seal). Upon review of the documents Plaintiffs seek to file under seal, the court confirms that they contain confidential medical information that is properly filed under seal. Additionally, the court notes that many of the documents sought to be filed under seal in Petitioner’s initial request have been filed on the public docket with the minor Plaintiffs’ identifying information redacted pursuant to Eastern District Local Rule 140(a)(i). Thus, Plaintiffs’ request is narrowly tailored to address only material for which there is a compelling reason to file under seal.

28 ///// 1 Accordingly, 2 1. Plaintiffs’ request to file under seal (Doc. No. 76) is GRANTED; and 3 2. Within three (3) days from the date of entry of this order, Plaintiffs shall email a 4 PDF copy of the unredacted version of exhibits 6, 8, 15 and 27 to the declaration 5 of Robert R. Powell to ApprovedSealed @ caed.uscourts.gov for filing under seal 6 on the docket in this case.

9 IT IS SO ORDERED. □ | Dated: _ December 29, 2025 □□ □ <—_ Dena Coggins 1] United States District Judge