J.H. v. Seattle Public Schools

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 10 J.H. and D.H., parents of P.H., a minor, CASE NO. 2:23-cv-191 11 Plaintiffs, ORDER GRANTING LEAVE TO FILE UNREDACTED 12 v. ADMINSTRATIVE RECORD UNDER SEAL 13 SEATTLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, 14 Defendant.

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 19 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 Court. Accordingly, the Court GRANTS the parties’ stipulated motion and DIRECTS the Clerk to maintain the administrative record under seal once it is filed.

5 The clerk is ordered to provide copies of this order to all counsel.

6 Dated June 6, 2023.

A 8 Marsha J. Pechman United States Senior District Judge Presented by: PACIFICA LAW GROUP LLP By: /s/ Sarah C. Johnson 13 Sarah C. Johnson, WSBA # 34529 Sam E. Chalfant, WSBA # 46080 Attorneys for Defendant Seattle Public Schools CASSADY LAW, PLLC By: /s/ Charlotte Cassady 17 Charlotte Cassady, WSBA #19848 Attorneys for Plaintiffs FEENEY LAW OFFICE, PLLC By: /s/ Kerri Feeney Kerri Feeney, WSBA #34080 Attorneys for Plaintiffs