(a) Filing Sealed Documents.
No cases or documents may be sealed without an order from the court. A
person desiring to file a document under seal must first file a motion seeking
leave in accordance with Section V.G of the CM/ECF Policy Manual. All
sealed and proposed documents shall be maintained electronically in
CM/ECF unless otherwise ordered by the court. First-time filers are strongly
encouraged to call the CM/ECF Help Desk at 866-855-8894.
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(b) Proposed Sealed Documents.
(1) Unless otherwise permitted by Section V.G of the CM/ECF Policy
Manual or order of the court, all proposed sealed documents must be
accompanied by a motion to seal. The motion to seal shall be a public
document and noted with a docket entry that gives the public notice
of the request to seal. The docket entry for the proposed sealed
document shall identify it as a “proposed” sealed document and
describe the type of document it is (e.g., affidavit, record) and the
substantive motion or other specific proceedings in the case to which
it relates (e.g., in support of defendant’s motion to compel at D.E.
____). The proposed sealed document is deemed to be provisionally
sealed until the court rules on the motion to seal.
(2) If the motion to seal is granted, the clerk will remove the word
“proposed” from the docket entry.
(3) If the motion to seal is denied, the document will remain sealed and
the word “proposed” will remain in the docket entry for the document
in order to preserve the record. The document will not be considered
by the court, except as provided herein or as otherwise ordered by the
court. A person desiring to remove a proposed sealed document or
docket entry therefor from the docket sheet must file a motion to
strike in accordance with Local Civil Rule 7.1. A person whose
motion to seal is denied but that desires the court to consider a
proposed sealed document as a publicly filed document shall file the
document as a public document within 3 days after entry of the order
denying the motion to seal or within such other period as the court
directs.
(c) Return of Sealed Documents.
(1) For those sealed documents not scanned into CM/ECF, upon 14 days’
notice to all parties, the clerk may destroy or dispose of the sealed
documents, unless the person who filed them retrieves them from the
clerk. This notice may occur no earlier than 30 days after final
disposition.
(2) If, during the 14-day period after the clerk has given notice of intent
to dispose of the sealed documents, any person files an objection to
such disposition, the presiding judge in the case shall resolve the
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dispute over the proposed disposition.
(d) Procedures for Manual Filers.
For those persons who are required to manually file all court documents (i.e.,
unrepresented persons), proposed sealed documents shall be delivered to the
clerk’s office in paper form in a sealed envelope. The proposed sealed
documents must be accompanied by a motion to seal in accordance with
Section V.G of the CM/ECF Policy Manual. Both the documents and the
envelope shall be prominently labeled “UNDER SEAL.” The envelope must
also have written on it the case caption; the case number; the title of the
document or, if the title contains proposed sealed information, the title
omitting the proposed sealed information; and the following notice, in all
capital letters and prominently displayed:
PROPOSED SEALED DOCUMENTS: SUBMITTED PURSUANT TO
MOTION TO SEAL.
