II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2364 

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 20, 2014 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, 

and Mr. MARKEY) 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sunshine in Litigation 

3 Act of 2014’’. 

4 SEC. 2. RESTRICTIONS ON PROTECTIVE ORDERS AND SEAL5 ING OF CASES AND SETTLEMENTS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 111 of title 28, United 

7 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘§ 1660. Restrictions on protective orders and sealing 

2 of cases and settlements 

3 ‘‘(a)(1) Except as provided under subsection (e), in 

4 any civil action in which the pleadings state facts that are 

5 relevant to the protection of public health or safety, a 

6 court shall not enter, by stipulation or otherwise, an order 

7 otherwise authorized under rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules 

8 of Civil Procedure restricting the disclosure of information 

9 obtained through discovery, an order approving a settle10 ment agreement that would restrict the disclosure of such 

11 information, or an order restricting access to court records 

12 unless in connection with such order the court has first 

13 made independent 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 the disclosure of 

18 past, present, or potential health or safety hazards 

19 is outweighed by a specific and substantial interest 

20 in maintaining the confidentiality of the information 

21 or records in question; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) the requested order is no broader than 

23 necessary to protect the confidentiality interest as24 serted. 

25 ‘‘(2) No order entered as a result of the operation 

26 paragraph (1), other than an order approving a settlement 


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1 agreement, may continue in effect after the entry of final 

2 judgment, unless at the time of, or after, such entry the 

3 court makes a separate finding of fact that the require4 ments of paragraph (1) continue to be met. 

5 ‘‘(3) The party who is the proponent for the entry 

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

7 burden of proof in obtaining such an order. 

8 ‘‘(4) This section shall apply even if an order under 

9 paragraph (1) is requested— 

10 ‘‘(A) by motion pursuant to rule 26(c) of the 

11 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; or 

12 ‘‘(B) by application pursuant to the stipulation 

13 of the parties. 

14 ‘‘(5)(A) The provisions of this section shall not con15 stitute grounds for the withholding of information in dis16 covery that is otherwise discoverable under rule 26 of the 

17 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 

18 ‘‘(B) A court shall not approve any party’s stipulation 

19 or request to stipulate to an order that would violate this 

20 section. 

21 ‘‘(b)(1) In any civil action in which the pleadings 

22 state facts that are relevant to the protection of public 

23 health or safety, a court shall not approve or enforce any 

24 provision of an agreement between or among parties, or 

25 approve or enforce an order entered as a result of the opVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:23 May 23, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2364.IS S2364

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1 eration of subsection (a)(1), to the extent that such provi2 sion or such order prohibits or otherwise restricts a party 

3 from disclosing any information relevant to such civil ac4 tion to any Federal or State agency with authority to en5 force laws regulating an activity relating to such informa6 tion. 

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

8 State agency shall be confidential to the extent provided 

9 by law. 

10 ‘‘(c)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), a court shall not 

11 enforce any provision of a settlement agreement described 

12 under subsection (a)(1) between or among parties that 

13 prohibits one or more parties from— 

14 ‘‘(A) disclosing the fact that such settlement 

15 was reached or the terms of such settlement, other 

16 than the amount of money paid; or 

17 ‘‘(B) discussing a civil action, or evidence pro18 duced in the civil action, that involves matters rel19 evant to the protection of public health or safety. 

20 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) applies unless the court has made 

21 independent findings of fact that— 

22 ‘‘(A) the public interest in the disclosure of 

23 past, present, or potential public health or safety 

24 hazards is outweighed by a specific and substantial 


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1 interest in maintaining the confidentiality of the in2 formation or records in question; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the requested order is no broader than 

4 necessary to protect the confidentiality interest as5 serted. 

6 ‘‘(d) When weighing the interest in maintaining con7 fidentiality under this section, there shall be a rebuttable 

8 presumption that the interest in protecting personally 

9 identifiable information relating to financial, health or 

10 other similar information of an individual outweighs the 

11 public interest in disclosure. 

12 ‘‘(e) Nothing in this section— 

13 ‘‘(1) shall prohibit a court from entering an 

14 order that would restrict the disclosure of informa15 tion, or an order restricting access to court records, 

16 if in either instance such order is necessary to pro17 tect from public disclosure— 

18 ‘‘(A) information classified under criteria 

19 established by an Executive order to be kept se20 cret in the interest of national defense or for21 eign policy; or 

22 ‘‘(B) intelligence sources and methods; or 

23 ‘‘(2) shall be construed to permit, require, or 

24 authorize the disclosure of information that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) is classified under criteria established 

2 by an Executive order to be kept secret in the 

3 interest of national defense or foreign policy; or 

4 ‘‘(B) reveals intelligence sources and meth5 ods.’’. 

6 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

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

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

9 to section 1659 the following: 

‘‘1660. Restrictions on protective orders and sealing of cases and settlements.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICATION. 

11 The amendments made by this Act shall— 

12 (1) take effect 30 days after the date of enact13 ment of this Act; 

14 (2) apply only to orders entered in civil actions 

15 or agreements entered into on or after the effective 

16 date of this Act; and 

17 (3) not provide a basis for the— 

18 (A) granting of a motion to reconsider, 

19 modify, amend or vacate a protective order or 

20 settlement order entered into before the effec21 tive date of this Act; or 

22 (B) reversal on appeal of a protective order 

23 or settlement order entered into before the ef24 fective date of this Act. 

Æ 


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