Western District of Washington Sealing & Redaction Procedures

INFO

Sealed documents .............................................................................................. 34

Sealed documents .............................................................................................. 34

INFO

Sealed documents remain sealed until further court order.

If the judge grants your motion to seal or permits a document to remain under seal, the document will remain sealed until further order of the court, as established by LCR 5(g)(7).

INFOCivil cases

Counsel should avoid eliciting personal identifiers from witnesses; if inadvertently recorded, redaction may be requested.

Examinations: Counsel are advised to avoid eliciting witnesses' personal identifiers such as social security numbers, financial account information, names of minor children, dates of birth and home addresses. If such information inadvertently becomes part of the record, counsel may request redaction of such items.

INFOCriminal cases

Summons petitions for probation/supervised release violations are not sealed and are publicly accessible upon filing.

Petitions for Summons are not filed under seal and are publicly accessible upon filing.

INFOCivil cases

Parties are encouraged to obtain a ruling on a motion to seal well before filing an underlying motion that relies on the sealed documents.

For this reason, parties are encouraged to seek a ruling on motions to seal well in advance of filing underlying motions relying on those documents.

INFOCivil cases

Parties may seek to unseal a document by filing a motion or stipulated motion.

(8) Parties may file a motion or stipulated motion requesting that the court unseal a document.

INFOCriminal cases

Parties may file a motion to unseal a document.

Parties may file a motion or stipulated motion requesting that the court unseal a document.

INFOCivil cases

A non-party seeking access to a sealed document may intervene to move to unseal it.

A non-party seeking access to a sealed document may intervene in a case for the purpose of filing a motion to unseal the document.

INFOCriminal cases

Returns of service for subpoenas on defendants unable to pay must be filed under seal until the witnesses testify.

returns of service on such witnesses are to be filed and maintained under seal until the witnesses have testified.

INFOCriminal cases

Ex parte applications and orders thereon may be filed and maintained under seal until the witnesses have testified.

Ex parte applications and orders thereon may be filed and maintained under seal until the witnesses have testified.