Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_20-cv-01076/USCOURTS-caed-2_20-cv-01076-1/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 550
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Civil Rights (U.S. defendant)
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Prisoner Civil Rights

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

JOHN DOE,

Plaintiff,

v.

SHANE ALDERSON, et al.,

Defendants.

No. 2:20-cv-01076-CKD-P

ORDER

 

Plaintiff is a county inmate who filed a civil rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 

§ 1983 along with an application to file all documents in the case under seal. ECF No. 1. The 

court denied plaintiff’s request to seal and returned the complaint with all accompanying 

documents that contained plaintiff’s identifying information. Plaintiff was instructed that he 

could file an amended complaint on the publicly accessible court docket within 21 days from the 

date of the court’s order. ECF No. 2. 

Plaintiff has now filed a motion to proceed under the pseudonym of “John Doe.” ECF 

No. 4. The pending motion also requests that any documents containing his real name be filed 

under seal. ECF No. 4. For good cause shown and for the reasons explained herein, the court 

will grant plaintiff’s motion to proceed as “John Doe.” 

In the motion, plaintiff asserts that his status as a sex offender exposes him to a risk of 

violence and he alleges that “he is in genuine fear of great bodily injury or death from the public 

knowledge of his specific sex offender offenses and background.” Specifically, plaintiff indicates 

that he was assaulted in both 2005 and in 2018 by individuals who discovered his sex offender 

status. It appears to the court that these incidents occurred once plaintiff was released from 

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custody. Without disclosing the specific case name or number, the court is also aware that 

plaintiff is due to be released from his present place of confinement in July 2020. 

The Ninth Circuit has held that “a party may preserve his or her anonymity in judicial 

proceedings in special circumstances when the party’s need for anonymity outweighs prejudice to 

the opposing party and the public’s interest in knowing the party’s identity.” Does I thru XXIII v. 

Advanced Textile Corp., 214 F.3d 1058, 1068 (9th Cir. 2000). A plaintiff has also been allowed 

to proceed anonymously when challenging a sex offender registration statute which is similar to 

the case at bar in which plaintiff seeks to challenge his sex offender parole conditions. See Doe I 

v. Otte, 259 F.3d 979, 983 (9th Cir. 2001), rev’d on other grounds by Smith v. Doe, 538 U.S. 84 

(2003). In this case, the court has weighed the factors identified in Does I thru XXIII and 

determined that the potential for physical harm to plaintiff and the lack of any demonstrable 

prejudice to defendants outweigh the public’s interest in knowing plaintiff’s true identity. 

Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

1. Plaintiff’s motion to proceed under the pseudonym “John Doe” is granted. The 

motion itself and all accompanying documents are ordered to be filed under seal.

2. Plaintiff's request to file under seal any document revealing plaintiff's true identity

is also granted. All parties in this action shall file any documents bearing plaintiff’s 

true identity under seal in this matter. To the extent that plaintiff’s true identity can be 

protected through redaction alone, documents must be redacted instead of sealed.

3. Any party in this civil action may review the sealed documents and may only reveal

plaintiff's true identity (or any information or distinguishing characteristics which 

could lead to revealing plaintiff's true identity) to attorneys litigating this case on their 

behalf.

4. All future pleadings in this case shall be filed under the case caption “John Doe v. 

Shane Alderson, et al.” with the appropriate case number.

5. In light of plaintiff’s pro se status, his identifying information will be retained by the 

Clerk’s Office for purposes of service of process only and will not be viewable on the 

publicly accessible electronic docket. 

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6. Plaintiff is hereby granted an extension of time to file an amended complaint that 

complies with the terms of this order. 

7. Within 30 days from the date of this order, plaintiff may file an amended complaint in 

this action. Failure to do so within the time provided will result in this case being 

administratively closed based on plaintiff’s failure to properly commence a civil 

action. 

8. The court will not rule on any additional motions filed by plaintiff UNLESS AND 

UNTIL a complaint is filed in this case.

9. The Clerk of Court is directed to send plaintiff a one-time courtesy copy of the docket 

in this matter.

Dated: June 16, 2020

12/jd1076.motion.docx

_____________________________________

CAROLYN K. DELANEY

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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