Opinion
Civil Action 21-12034 NMG
03-22-2022
JANE DOE Petitioner, v. THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, Respondent.
ORDER
NATHANIEL M. GORTON, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
1. Petitioner's requests to proceed under a pseudonym (ECF Nos. 1-1, 4, 7) are each DENIED without prejudice. "As a general rule, the presumption is that all judicial proceedings remain open to the public." Doe v. W. New Eng. U., CV 3:19 30124-TSH, 2019 WL 10890195, at *1 (D. Mass. Dec. 16, 2019) (quoting Doe v. Word of Life Fellowship, Inc., No. 11-40077-TSH, 2011 WL 2968912, at *1 (D. Mass. July 18, 2011)). This Court nevertheless retains "discretion to allow a party to proceed pseudonymously in circumstances where that party * has a substantial privacy right which outweighs the customary and constitutionally embedded presumption of openness in judicial proceedings.'" Id. (quoting Doe v. Bell Atl. Bus. Sys. Servs., Inc., 162 F.R.D. 418, 420 (D. Mass. 1995) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted)). Of course, "[t]he burden is upon the proponent to demonstrate the need for confidentiality." Maclnnis v. Cigna Grp. Ins. Co. of Am., 379 F.Supp.2d 89, 90 (D. Mass. 2005). Here, petitioner's reasons for proceeding by-pseudonym due to the undescribed "sensitive nature of the subject matter" and "personal nature of the matter and medical information that will be submitted in regard to the matter," see ECF Nos. 1-1, 4, 7, are wholly conclusory. On this record, the petitioner fails to meet her burden to rebut the presumption of an open proceeding and her identity being public.
2. Petitioner's requests to seal documents filed in this matter to date (ECF Nos. 1-1, 4, 7, and 9-1) are each DENIED without prejudice, however the unsealing of any documents in this action is STAYED until further Order of the Court. Petitioner by April 8, 2022 may file a renewed motion to seal with supporting memorandum of reasons why each document, or portion thereof, should be sealed.
3. The Petition will be DENIED and this action DISMISSED unless the Petitioner by April 8, 2022: (1) files an amended petition for the public record-- a stand-alone document replacing all prior petitions - that in addition to providing the factual basis of the petition: (a) provides her legal name and current mailing address (unless accompanied by a renewed motion to proceed by pseudonym in which case she may provide a redacted amended petition for the public record and simultaneously file an unredacted petition with her true name and current mailing address, under seal), and (b) identifies her immediate custodian (i.e. the superintendent or warden of the facility in which she is detained); and (2) complies with the Court's December 28, 2021 Procedural Order, ECF No. 5, a copy of which shall be provided with this Order.
4. The Clerk is directed to provide a copy of this Order and the Court's December 28, 2021 Procedural Order (ECF No. 5) to the latest name and address provided by the petitioner.
So Ordered.