Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_18-cv-05110/USCOURTS-cand-3_18-cv-05110-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 443
Nature of Suit: Civil Rights Accommodations
Cause of Action: 42:405 Fair Housing Act

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United States District Court

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

ESTELA CANO, et al.,

Plaintiffs,

v.

MELINDA TERUEL, et al.,

Defendants.

Case No. 18-cv-05110-JCS 

ORDER DENYING WITHOUT 

PREJUDICE AMENDED 

ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION TO FILE 

UNDER SEAL

Re: Dkt. No. 60

Defendant Melinda Teruel moves, in an administrative motion that itself contains 

confidential information, to file under seal a petition for approval of settlement of a minor’s 

claims. As a general rule, a party must show “compelling reasons” to file documents under seal in 

order to overcome the “‘strong presumption in favor of [public] access,’” and “the court must 

‘conscientiously balance[] the competing interests’ of the public and the party who seeks to keep 

certain judicial records secret.” Kamakana v. City & Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178–79 

(9th Cir. 2006) (quoting Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122 (9th Cir. 2003)) 

(second alteration in original). 

Although the Court finds compelling reasons to seal the names of minors, see Fed. R. Civ. 

P. 5.2(a), and confidential terms of a proposed settlement, the Court’s local rules require that 

requests to file under seal “must be narrowly tailored to seek sealing only of sealable material.” 

Civ. L.R. 79-5(b). Teruel’s present administrative motion seeks to seal not only the settlement 

agreement and the portions of the petition that reference its terms or the names of minors, but also

the remainder of the petition in its entirety, the administrative motion itself, the declaration of 

counsel accompanying it as required by Civil Local Rule 79-5(d)(1)(A), and the proposed order 

granting the motion to seal. Such a request does not comply with the requirement that sealing 

must be narrowly tailored.

Case 3:18-cv-05110-JCS Document 61 Filed 05/13/19 Page 1 of 2
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United States District Court

Northern District of California

The motion to file under seal is therefore DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. All filings 

submitted under seal will remain sealed, but will not be considered by the Court. Teruel may file 

a renewed administrative motion seeking to seal the settlement agreement in its entirety and to seal 

narrowly tailored portions of the petition and any supporting documents as necessary to protect the 

confidentiality of settlement terms, the names of minors, or any other information for which 

compelling reasons require sealing. The Court expects that a redacted public version of the 

petition to approve settlement can be filed in the public record disclosing, for example, the history 

of the case and the legal arguments on which the parties rely for why the settlement should be 

approved. The Court also expects that the renewed administrative motion can be framed in such a 

way that the administrative motion itself, the declaration of counsel, and the proposed order need 

not themselves be filed under seal.

1

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: May 13, 2019

______________________________________

JOSEPH C. SPERO

Chief Magistrate Judge

 

1

See Civ. L.R. 79-5(c) (“Only the unredacted version of a document sought to be sealed, may be 

filed under seal before a sealing order is obtained, as permitted by Civil L.R. 79-5(d)(1)(D).”); 

Civ. L.R. 79-5(d)(1) (listing the documents to be filed with an administrative motion to file under 

seal, of which the “unredacted version of the document sought to be filed under seal” is only one 

of three or four supporting documents that must be filed)

Case 3:18-cv-05110-JCS Document 61 Filed 05/13/19 Page 2 of 2