Sealed Matters (Amended January 1, 2012)

(a) Cases may be sealed in their entirety, or only as to certain parties or documents, when they are initiated, or at various stages of the proceedings. The Court may on its own motion enter an order directing that a document, party or entire case be sealed. A party seeking to have a document, party or entire case sealed shall submit an application, under seal, setting forth the reason(s) why the document, party or entire case should be sealed, together with a proposed order for the assigned judge's approval. The proposed order shall include language in the “ORDERED” paragraph stating the referenced document(s) to be sealed and should include the phrase “including this sealing order.” Upon the assigned judge’s approval of the sealing order, the Clerk shall seal the document(s) and the sealing order.

A complaint presented for filing with a motion to seal and a proposed order shall be treated as a sealed case, pending approval of the proposed order. Once the Court seals a document or case, it shall remain under seal until a subsequent order, upon the Court’s own motion (under subsection (b) of this Rule or otherwise) or in response to the motion of a party, is entered directing that the document or case be unsealed. (b) Pleadings and other papers filed under seal in civil actions shall remain under seal for sixty (60) days following final disposition of the action, i.e., final disposition of the action includes any time allowed by the federal rules to file an appeal in a civil matter, and, if an appeal is filed, sixty (60) days from the date of the filing of the mandate if the action was not remanded for further proceedings. After that time, the Court will unseal all sealed documents and place them in the case record unless, upon motion of a party, the district judge or magistrate judge orders that the pleading or other document remain under seal or be returned to the filing party.

If the case is fully electronic, documents that have been unsealed may be uploaded to CM/ECF where they would be available for public viewing.