In Sanchez v. County of Sacramento, No. 2:19-cv-01545-MCE-AC, 2020 WL 605882 (E.D. Cal. February 7, 2020) (Claire, USMJ), a U.S. Magistrate Judge ordered all parties to execute a stipulated protective order.
The Local Rules for the Eastern District of California where this ruling was made regulate the Mechanics of Obtaining a Protective Order. Local Rule 141.1(b) (emphasis in the title of this Local Rule). On its face, it is clearly permissive, certainly where pretrial discovery like that at issue in this case is involved, not mandatory. See Local Rule 141.1(b)(1).
If U.S. Magistrate Judges in the Eastern District of California are nonetheless empowered to order the parties to stipulate to secrecy orders, are they also empowered to order the parties to stipulate to anything else? And if not, then what are the limits on their power to mandate stipulations of any kind?
And what becomes of the First Amendment right of public access to court files which is recognized, for example, in the same Local Rules of the Eastern District of California? See Local Rule 141.1(a).
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