Wilson v. State of Nevada

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA Jeffrey Wilson, Case No.: 2:19-cv-00549-JAD-DJA 4 Petitioner Order Granting Motion to Seal or Strike v. [ECF No. 40] William Hutchings, et al., 7 Respondents 8 The respondents in this habeas action move to seal or alternatively to strike documents that they inadvertently filed without adequately redacting them first. They argue that requiring them to refile the properly redacted documents would create confusion because the parties have already referenced the documents in various filings. Many documents contain personal information including addresses, birthdays, and names of minors. While the need to protect this private information is compelling, I must also balance that concern with the public’s interest in the other information contained in the documents.1 Importantly, much of that information would otherwise be available, had the exhibits been properly redacted in their initial filing.

16 In balancing those concerns, I find that compelling reasons exist to seal the unredacted copies of those documents. It’s unclear however what documents the defendants move to seal because they reference “ECF No. 20-4, Exhibit 63”2 but the record indicates that ECF No. 20-4 is actually Exhibit 65. So I grant the respondents’ unopposed motion in part. The respondents may re-urge their request to seal either ECF No. 20-4 or Exhibit 63 and must do so by April 13, 1 Kamakana v. City and Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178–79 (9th Cir. 2006).

2 ECF No. 40 at 3.

The respondents then have until April 20, 2021, to file the redacted copies of the sealed exhibits that comply with Local Rule IC 6-1.

3 IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that respondents’ motion to seal or in the alternative All strike unredacted exhibits [ECF No. 40] is GRANTED IN PART. The respondents’ motion is denied without prejudice with respect to ECF No. 20-4. The respondents have until April 13, 6] 2021, to resubmit their sealing motion as to ECF No. 20-2 or ECF No. 20-4. The Clerk of 7|| Court is directed seal ECF Nos. 18-4, 18-8, 18-21, 18-31, 20-2, 20-4, 20-9, and 20-14.

8 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the respondents must file the redacted exhibits by April 20, 2021.

11 phos USS. District JudgeJennifer A. Dorsey 12 April 6, 2021