Doe v. Maine Department of Health and Human Services

STATE OF MAINE SUPERIOR COURT KENNEBEC, ss. CIVIL ACTION DOCKET NO. AP-24-7 JANE DOE, ) ) Plaintiff ) ) Vv. ) ORDER ON DEFENDANT’S MOTION ) TO SEAL FILE MAINE DEPARTMENT OF ) HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ) ) Defendant ) In this case, filed pursuant to M. R. Civ. P. 80C, the plaintiff seeks review of a final decision from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) finding that the plaintiff subjected a minor to abuse or neglect or failed to protect the minor from abuse or neglect. Defendant DHHS has filed a motion to seal the court’s file on the basis that “[t]he pleadings and certified records to be filed in conjunction with this matter will reference or contain records that are, by statute, to be maintained confidentially.” Mot. at { 1. “Because public confidence in the judicial process is vitally important, [a court’s] review of requests to seal documents must be undertaken very carefully and must be guided by the crucial principle of public access.” Carey v. Me. Bd. of Overseers of the Bar, 2018 ME 73, § 12 , 186 A.8d 848. However, the court must be mindful of countervailing interests that weight against public access. Id. The court is unwilling to seal the entire file in this case, which “would be the equivalent of erasing any record that this case had been filed.” Bloom v. Tamir, No. 21-CV-355, 2022 Me. Super. LEXIS 43 , at *1 (Apr. 11, 2022). Contested judicial proceedings should not be based on a secret record. Id. To protect the privacy of the petitioner and the minor, the court will order the case to be recaptioned as “Jane Doe v. Maine Department of Health and Human Services,” and the plaintiff shall be permitted to proceed under a pseudonym. The Petition for Review, which identifies petitioner by name, shall be sealed. In addition, the parties may, in filing their briefs, seek permission from the court to redact from public view any portions of those briefs that refer to confidential information. Finally, certain of the court records at issue are declared confidential by statute. See 22 MRS. § 4008(1) “All department records that contain personally identifying information and are created or obtained in connection with the department’s child protective activities and activities related to a child while in the care or custody of the department, and all information contained in those records, are confidential and subject to release only under [certain conditions identified by statute].”). Thus, the court will impound the certified record of the agency action and order that it remain under seal. The entry shall be: Defendant’s motion to seal is denied in part and granted in part. Case to be recaptioned as “Jane Doe v. Maine Department of Health and Human Services.” The parties are directed to use this caption on all filings. Petition for review and agency record to be impounded. See M.R. Civ. P. 79(b). The clerk is directed to incorporate this order on the docket by reference pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 79(a). DATED: 3[32{24 in Z/ Julia M.flLipez (.) Justice,’Maine Supérior Court