Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_90-cv-00520/USCOURTS-caed-2_90-cv-00520-1209/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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18995858.1 

ORDER 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

SACRAMENTO DIVISION 

RALPH COLEMAN, et al., 

Plaintiffs, 

v. 

GAVIN NEWSOM, et al. 

Defendants. 

 Case No. 2:90-CV-00520- KJM-DB 

ORDER 

Judge: Hon. Kimberly J. Mueller 

Good cause appearing, Defendants’ motion to file certain correspondence to the Special 

Master under seal is GRANTED. 

“Every court has supervisory power over its own records and files, and access has been 

denied where court files might have become a vehicle for improper purposes.” Nixon v. Warner 

Communications, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 598 (1978). When a party moves to seal a record, the Court 

looks to the underlying motion and determines whether it is “more than tangentially related to the 

merits of the case. Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1101 (9th Cir.), cert. 

denied sub nom. FCA U.S. LLC v. Ctr. for Auto Safety, 137 S. Ct. 38 (2016). When a motion is 

unrelated or only tangentially related to the merits of the case, the good cause standard applies. Id. 

at 1097–98. To establish good cause, a party must show “specific prejudice or harm will result” 

Case 2:90-cv-00520-KJM-SCR Document 7629 Filed 10/18/22 Page 1 of 2
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18995858.1 -2- 

ORDER 

absent sealing, Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1135 (9th Cir. 2003), 

which may include the need “to protect a party or person from annoyance, embarrassment, 

oppression, or undue burden or expense,” Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c). Here, the Court finds that the 

good cause standard is met. 

The Court’s clerk is directed to file the previously conditionally lodged copy of Secretary 

Kathleen Allison’s October 15, 2022 letter to Special Master Matthew A. Lopes, Jr. in the record, 

under seal until further order of the court. 

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

DATED: October 18, 2022. 

Case 2:90-cv-00520-KJM-SCR Document 7629 Filed 10/18/22 Page 2 of 2