D.J.C.V. v. United States

Decision Date10 March 2022
Docket Number20 Civ. 5747 (PAE)
PartiesD.J.C.V., a minor child, and G.C., his father, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Defendant.
CourtUnited States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. Southern District of New York

DAMIAN WILLIAMS United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York

Kathryn Ball Narla Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP Ghita Schwarz LatinoJustice PRLDEF Baher Azmy CENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS Attorneys for Plaintiffs D.J. C.V minor child, and G. C.

ALEXANDER J. HOGAN REBECCA R, FRIEDMAN Assistant United States Attorneys Counsel for United States

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER REGARDING CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION
HON. PAUL A. EN0ELMAYER

1. With the agreement of the parties, the Court having determined that there is good cause for issuance of a protective order pursuant to Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to govern the disclosure, use, and handling by the parties and their respective agents, successors, personal representatives and assignees of certain information and items produced and received in discovery this action, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED as follows:

A. Definitions

1. “Action” shall mean the case captioned D. J. C.V., et al. v. United States, 20 Civ. 5747 (PAE).

2. “Confidential Information” shall mean information that, at the time of its production in discovery in the Action, or thereafter, is designated confidential by the Producing Party because of a good faith belief that the information is:

a. a trade secret or other confidential research, development, or commercial information as such terms are used in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c)(1)(G);

b. personal financial, medical or other private information relating to an individual that would properly be redacted from any public court filing pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2., including any document, information, or tangible thing protected by the provisions of the Family and Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, 34 C.F.R. Part 99; certain individually identifiable health information (defined as health information that is connected to a patient's name, address, Social Security number, or other identifying number, including Health Insurance Claim (HIC) number) that may be subject to the provisions of the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a; the provisions of 45 C.F.R. §§ 164.102-164.534 (regulations promulgated pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)); or health information for which there may be no waiver by the patient to produce the records to an entity outside one of the Parties;

c. information protected by the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C § 552a;

d. information contained in individual detainee files (e.g., “A Files”) that would be protected by the Privacy Act or any other information or documents that would be covered by the Privacy Act if the subject of the information had been a U.S. citizen or a person lawfully admitted for permanent residence; e. plaintiffs' administrative claims (Standard Form 95 or “SF-95”) and attachments to those claims;

f. sensitive information about Defendant's law enforcement or national security staffing, resources, intelligence and/or methods (including the names and contact information of third parties, and non-supervisory federal and non-federal employees), the release of which to the public may adversely impact identifiable law enforcement or national security interests;

g. information pertaining to applications for asylum or withholding of removal, which are subject to disclosure conditions under 8 C.F.R. §§1003.27(c) and 1208.6(a), as well as information pertaining to: (1) applications for Temporary Protected Status under 8 U.S.C. § 1254a; and (2) information that relates to an alien who is the beneficiary of an application for relief under 8 U.S.C. §§ 1101(a)(15)(T), (15)(U), (51) or 1229b(b)(2); and

h. any other information that is protected or restricted from disclosure by Court order, statutes, or regulations, including, but not limited to: 8 U.S.C. §§ 1160(b)(5); 1186a(c)(4), 1202(f), 1254a(c)(6), 1255a(c)(4), (5); 1304(b), and 1367(a)(2), (b), (c), (d); 22 U.S.C. § 7105(c)(1)(C); 8 C.F.R. §§ 208.6, 210.2(e), 214.11(e), 214.14(e), 216.5(e)(3)(viii), 236.6, 244.16, 245a.2(t), 245a.3(n), 245a.21> 1003.27(b)-(d), 1003.46, 1208.6, 28 C.F.R. § 0.29f, which otherwise could subject either party to civil or criminal penalties or other sanctions in the event of unauthorized disclosure.

3. “Disclose” (or forms thereof) shall mean to distribute, provide, or otherwise make available for access, viewing, or copying. “Disclose” shall include the actual covered document or item as well as the contents or information contained therein, such that disclosing a copy, summary, paraphrasing, or characterization would be considered a disclosure of the document itself for purposes of this Protective Order.

4. “Document” shall mean all items listed in Fed.R.Civ.P. 34(a)(1)(A) & (B).

5. “Challenging Party shall mean any party who challenges the designation of information as Confidential Information under this Protective Order.

6. “Designating Party shall mean the party or other person producing in discovery in the Action any information that the Producing Party seeks to designate and to have treated as Confidential Information pursuant to this Protective Order.

7, “Producing Party shall mean the person or party producing in discovery in the Action.

8. “Receiving Party shall mean any party who receives information that has been designated as Confidential Information.

B. Purpose, Scope, and Limitations of Protective Order

1. This Protective Order applies to discovery, pre-trial, trial, and post-trial proceedings in this action, whether the Documents are produced by a party or a person or entity who is not a party to this action (a “non-party). This Order binds the parties and their respective agents, successors, personal representatives, and assignees.

2. This Protective Order shall not prejudice in any way any party's ability to challenge the use or disclosure of information other than information designated as

Confidential Information under this Protective Order in this Action. A party's compliance with the terms of this Protective Order shall not operate as an admission that any particular material is or is not (a) confidential, (b) privileged, or (c) admissible in evidence at trial.

3. The protections conferred by this Protective Order do not cover any information that (i) is properly in the public domain (ii) becomes part of the public domain after its disclosure to a Receiving Party as a result of publication not involving a violation of this Protective Order, including becoming part of the public record in this Action through trial or otherwise; (iii) is known to or is in the possession of the Receiving Party prior to the disclosure in this Action or obtained by the Receiving Party after the disclosure in this Action from a source who obtained the information lawfully and under no obligation of confidentiality to the Producing Party.

4. If the Confidential Information contains highly sensitive information, then the Parties may stipulate or the Producing Party may move for the establishment of an additional category of protection (e.g., Attorneys' Eyes Only) that prohibits disclosure of such information in that category, or that limits disclosure only to specifically designated counsel, Party representative(s) whose assistance is reasonably necessary to the conduct of these cases, and who agree to be bound by the terms of the Order provided herein or as revised with respect to such information.

5. The Court finds that this Order is a “qualified protective order” within the meaning of 45 C.F.R. § 164.512(e)(1)(v). All patient identifiable information shall be designated “confidential” using the process in Section C of this Protective Order and may be used or disclosed in accordance with the terms of this Protective Order and 45 C.F.R. § 164.512(e)(1)(v).

6. This Protective Order does not govern the use by the parties of Confidential Information in open court at any hearing or trial, but the parties reserve the right to seek relief from the Court in connection with the intended use of Confidential Information in any such hearing or trial.

7. This Protective Order governs the disclosure, use, and handling of all Confidential Information, regardless of the format or medium in which such Confidential Information is generated, stored, or maintained.

8. Any Confidential Information referenced in any pleading or contained in any Document filed with the Court in this Action by the Producing Party shall at the time of filing cease to be Confidential Information unless the Producing Party files the un-redacted pleading or Document under seal per the procedural requirements of this Court.

9. Nothing in this Protective Order shall restrict the right of any Producing Party to use its own Confidential Information for any purpose whatsoever, but if any such use results in a disclosure that causes the Confidential Information to lose its designation as Confidential Information, then it shall no longer be subj ect to any protection under this Protective Order.

10. This Protective Order applies to only disclosures, uses, and handling of Confidential Information occurring after the entry of this Protective Order.

11. Neither the termination of this Action nor the termination of employment of any person who has had access to any Confidential Information shall relieve such person of his or her obligations under this Protective Order, which shall survive.

12. Any party may at any time seek modification of this Order by agreement or, failing agreement, by motion to the Court.

C. Method for Designating Confidential...

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