Carlson Gray Swafford v. Richard Evangelista, Esq., in His Official and Individual Capacities; Kyle Flemming, in His Official and Individual Capacities; and Gordon Rhea, Esq., in His Official and Individual Capacities

Summary

The District Court of the Virgin Islands denies Carlson Gray Swafford’s motion to seal financial records submitted in support of his in forma pauperis and remote participation filings. The Court holds that IFP applications and supporting materials are judicial records subject to a strong presumption of public access, and that the plaintiff failed to demonstrate a clearly defined and serious injury warranting sealing. The Court directs the Clerk to send the order to Swafford by certified mail.

Holdings

1. Applications to proceed in forma pauperis and their supporting financial records are judicial records subject to the common-law right of public access because they concern the court's statutorily based exercise of discretion and the proper administration of public funds.
2. Plaintiff failed to overcome the strong presumption of public access because generalized privacy concerns, an asserted informational asymmetry, and unsupported allegations of harm do not establish a clearly defined and serious injury.
3. Sealing was not warranted because the documents' account and personal-identification information had already been redacted in compliance with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2, and redaction is preferable to wholesale sealing where possible.

Questions Presented

1. Whether financial records submitted in support of applications to proceed in forma pauperis should be sealed from public access.
2. Whether Plaintiff demonstrated a clearly defined and serious injury sufficient to overcome the common-law right of public access to judicial records.
3. Whether the existing redactions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2 adequately protected the sensitive information.

Disposition

other