From at present’s order by Decide John Woodcock (D. Me.) in Doe v. Smith; Sigmund D. Schutz and Alexandra A. Harriman of PretiFlaherty and I signify the media intervenors, and my scholar Timon Amirani labored on our movement. (Notice that our movement to unseal continues to be pending.)
Over the plaintiff’s objection, the Court docket grants a movement to intervene filed by a belief representing a community of impartial information and media retailers to hunt to unseal docket entries and doubtlessly to depseudonymize the plaintiff relying on the contents of the filings if unsealed….
On November 14, 2023, John Doe, appearing beneath a pseudonym, filed a civil motion on this Court docket towards Sara Smith, one other pseudonym, asserting that she breached a Non-Disclosure Settlement and induced the Plaintiff damages. The Plaintiff additionally sought equitable aid, together with an injunction towards Ms. Smith. Within the grievance, Mr. Doe alleges that he was the winner of the Maine State Lottery, that Ms. Smith is the mom of his minor daughter, and that Ms. Smith entered right into a Non-Disclosure Settlement to “promote the safety and security of John Doe, [herself], and their daughter” and to keep away from “the irreparable harm of allowing the media or the public in general to discover, inter alia, John Doe’s identity, physical location, and assets.” Mr. Doe filed a number of motions to seal paperwork filed on this case based mostly on his view that the revelation of his identify will trigger him irreparable hurt, and the Court docket has granted these motions….
On February 20, 2024, the Maine Belief for Native Information (Maine Belief) filed a movement to intervene to file motions to unseal the paperwork at the moment docketed beneath seal and doubtlessly to depseudonymize the case sooner or later. In its movement, Maine Belief describes itself as “a network of independent news and media outlets serving the entirety of the state of Maine,” an outline the Court docket accepts for functions of this movement. [Note that despite the court’s admirable caution in its description, there’s little controversy about the Maine Trust’s role; it includes, among others, the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram, as well as many other smaller mainstream publications. -EV]
On the identical day, the Maine Belief filed a movement to unseal the paperwork in 4 docket entries. On February 21, 2024, Sara Smith rapidly responded and acknowledged that not solely did she not object to Maine Belief’s movement to intervene however that she had objected to numerous motions to seal by John Doe. On March 6, 2024, John Doe filed his opposition to Maine Belief’s movement to intervene….
Intervention “is an effective mechanism for third-party claims of access to information generated through judicial proceedings.” Preliminarily, the Court docket concludes that Maine Belief’s movement to intervene falls throughout the permissive intervention provisions of Federal Rule of Civil Process 24(b), not the intervention of proper provisions of Federal Rule of Civil Process 24(a).
Underneath this provision, a proposed intervenor should present “that (1) it timely moved to intervene; (2) it has an interest relating to the property or transaction that forms the basis of the ongoing suit; (3) that the disposition of the action threatens to create a practical impediment to its ability to protect[] its interest; and (4) no existing party adequately represents its interests.” …
“When the party moving to intervene does so for a limited purpose and does not seek to become a party to the litigation, the nexus-of-fact-or-law requirement is loosened, and ‘[s]pecificity, e.g. that the intervenors’ claim involve the same legal theory that was raised in the main action, is not required.'” …
[1.] Relating to timeliness, as Maine Belief factors out, press entities and others “seeking access to court records may intervene to unseal court records even after judgment.” In assist of its place, Maine Belief cites Public Citizen v. Liggett Group, Inc. (1st Cir. 1988). The Court docket finds Public Citizen instructive. In Public Citizen, … the First Circuit quoted with approval [an earlier decision’s] commentary that “[t]o the extent [a right of access] exists, it exists today for the records of cases decided a hundred years ago as surely as i[t] does for lawsuits now in the early stages of litigation.”
Based mostly on Public Citizen, the Court docket is by no means sure that the bizarre timeliness necessities apply when the media strikes to intervene to say the proper of public entry to court docket paperwork. Nonetheless, if the timeliness requirement does apply, the Court docket concludes that Maine Belief’s movement to intervene is well timed.
Though Mr. Doe filed the lawsuit on November 14, 2023, Ms. Smith didn’t reply the grievance till December 19, 2023. Mr. Doe factors out that as early as November 20, 2023, the Portland Press Herald printed a information article in regards to the lawsuit. It’s true that Maine Belief may have filed a movement to depseudonymize the lawsuit then. However it’s also true that Maine Belief didn’t then understand that the lawsuit would show contentious.
Nor may Maine Belief have recognized the extent to which future filings could be sealed. As Maine Belief factors out, Ms. Smith filed all her paperwork with out sealing till January 19, 2024. Initially, Ms. Smith publicly filed a movement for sanctions on February 7, 2024, and after Mr. Doe filed an emergency movement for seal on February 7, 2024, and on February 7, 2024, the Court docket granted it. Maine Belief dates its consciousness that the events wouldn’t shield its curiosity in open entry to January 19, 2024, when Ms. Smith started to file her paperwork beneath seal. Whichever date is used, January 19, 2024 or February 7, 2024, the Court docket concludes that Maine Belief’s February 20, 2024 movement to intervene is well timed….
[2.] The Court docket is skeptical about Mr. Doe’s rivalry that granting Maine Belief’s movement to intervene will delay the case…. The present discovery deadline is August 27, 2024 and a discover of intent to file dispositive motions isn’t due till September 6, 2024—each a number of months away…. With the Court docket granting the movement to intervene, the briefing of Maine Belief’s movement to unseal ought to proceed within the bizarre course and there’s no cause to consider that Maine Belief’s movement will trigger delay.
It’s true that Maine Belief means that, relying on what it learns if the docket entries are unsealed, it could additionally transfer to depseudonymize Plaintiff. Maine However this movement, if made, must be dealt with within the bizarre course by the events, Maine Belief, and the Court docket, and Mr. Doe doesn’t counsel in any other case. Accordingly, the Court docket doesn’t conclude that granting the movement to intervene will delay these proceedings….
[3.] Mr. Doe makes the purpose that Ms. Smith opposed sealing and subsequently argues that Ms. Smith is ready to adequately signify Maine Belief’s curiosity. Nonetheless, Ms. Smith represents her personal personal curiosity. Maine Belief, in contrast, “seek[s] to vindicate [its] and the public’s common law and First Amendment rights of access to judicial proceedings, and that interest is not currently represented by [either] of the parties.” “[T]his consideration weighs in favor of granting, not denying, intervention.” …
