II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 957

To amend chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, relating to protective

orders, sealing of cases, disclosures of discovery information in civil

actions, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 4, 1999

Mr. KOHL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to

the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code,

relating to protective orders, sealing of cases, disclosures

of discovery information in civil actions, and for other

purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. PROTECTIVE ORDERS AND SEALING OF CASES

4 AND SETTLEMENTS RELATING TO PUBLIC

5 HEALTH OR SAFETY.

6 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the

7 ‘‘Sunshine in Litigation Act of 1999’’.
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1 (b) PROTECTIVE ORDERS AND SEALING OF CASES.—

2 Chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, is amended

3 by adding at the end the following new section:

4 ‘‘§ 1660. Protective orders and sealing of cases and

5 settlements relating to public health or

6 safety

7 ‘‘(a)(1) A court shall enter an order under rule 26(c)

8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure restricting the dis9 closure of information obtained through discovery, an

10 order approving a settlement agreement that would re11 strict the disclosure of such information, or an order re12 stricting access to court records in a civil case only after

13 making particularized findings of fact that—

14 ‘‘(A) such order would not restrict the disclo15 sure of information which is relevant to the protec16 tion of public health or safety; or

17 ‘‘(B)(i) the public interest in disclosure of po18 tential health or safety hazards is clearly outweighed

19 by a specific and substantial interest in maintaining

20 the confidentiality of the information or records in

21 question; and

22 ‘‘(ii) the requested protective order is no broad23 er than necessary to protect the privacy interest as24 serted.
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1 ‘‘(2) No order entered in accordance with paragraph

2 (1) (other than an order approving a settlement agree3 ment) shall continue in effect after the entry of final judg4 ment, unless at or after such entry the court makes a sep5 arate particularized finding of fact that the requirements

6 of paragraph (1) (A) or (B) have been met.

7 ‘‘(b) The party who is the proponent for the entry

8 of an order, as provided under this section, shall have the

9 burden of proof in obtaining such an order.

10 ‘‘(c)(1) No court of the United States may approve

11 or enforce any provision of an agreement between or

12 among parties to a civil action, or approve or enforce an

13 order subject to subsection (a)(1), that prohibits or other14 wise restricts a party from disclosing any information rel15 evant to such civil action to any Federal or State agency

16 with authority to enforce laws regulating an activity relat17 ing to such information.

18 ‘‘(2) Any such information disclosed to a Federal or

19 State agency shall be confidential to the extent provided

20 by law.’’.

21 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—

22 The table of sections for chapter 111 of title 28, United

23 States Code, is amended by adding after the item relating

24 to section 1659 the following:

‘‘1660. Protective orders and sealing of cases and settlements relating to public

health or safety.’’.
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1 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

2 this section shall take effect 30 days after the date of en3 actment of this Act and shall apply only to orders entered

4 in civil actions or agreements entered into on or after such

5 date.

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