Northshore School District v. A.J.

Honorable John H. Chun

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE NORTHSHORE SCHOOL DISTRICT, 9 No. 2:22-cv-01630-JHC Plaintiff, 10 ORDER GRANTING LEAVE TO FILE v. UNREDACTED ADMINISTRATIVE 11 RECORD UNDER SEAL A.J. and N.J. on behalf of their minor child, P.J., 13 Defendants.

This matter comes before the Court on the parties’ stipulated motion to file the administrative record under seal. The Court starts from the position that there is “a strong presumption in favor of access to court records.” Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 18 F.3d 1122, 1135 (9th Cir. 2003). To overcome this presumption, there must be a “compelling reason” for sealing that is “sufficient to outweigh the public’s interest in disclosure.” Kamakana v. City & County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1179 (9th Cir. 2006). Compelling reasons exist in this case. The parties’ interests in keeping the information in the record confidential to protect the minor student at issue outweighs the public’s interest in disclosure of these confidential records. See id. Given the volume of the record and the prevalence of sensitive information contained in the record, redacting this confidential information would be overly burdensome and would render the record difficult to understand – and thus far less valuable – to the public and the ORDER GRANTING LEAVE TO FILE Court. Accordingly, the Court GRANTS the parties’ stipulated motion and DIRECTS the Clerk to maintain the administrative record under seal once it is filed.

DATED this 15th day of March, 2023.

A John H. Chun United States District Judge Presented by: PACIFICA LAW GROUP LLP By /s/ Sarah C. Johnson 12 Carlos A. Chavez, WSBA #34076 Sarah C. Johnson, WSBA #34529 Attorneys for Plaintiff Northshore School District FORD LAW FIRM By: /s/ Ryan P. Ford Ryan P. Ford, WSBA #50628 Attorneys for Defendants ORDER GRANTING LEAVE TO FILE