Kelly Hirt and Marshall Hirt v. Riverside County, Riverside Sheriff's Office, Sheriff-Coroner Chad Bianco, and Does 1-10

Summary

This document is a stipulated protective order entered in Kelly Hirt and Marshall Hirt v. Riverside County, et al., in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. It governs the designation, disclosure, use, challenge, filing, and final disposition of confidential discovery materials, including medical, mental-health, correctional, investigative, and employment-related information. The order was stipulated to by the parties on July 18, 2025, and entered by Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym on July 22, 2025.

Holdings

1. Good cause existed to enter the parties' stipulated protective order because discovery was likely to involve confidential, proprietary, private, medical, mental-health, investigative, employment, financial, and third-party information warranting protection from public disclosure and use outside the litigation.
2. The protective order does not confer blanket protection on all disclosures or responses and does not itself authorize filing confidential information under seal; any sealing request must comply with Central District of California Local Rule 79-5 and requires a court order concerning the specific material.
3. The protective order's confidentiality terms do not extend beyond commencement of trial; once the case proceeds to trial, designated information becomes public and presumptively available unless the trial judge makes specific factual findings supporting otherwise under the compelling-reasons standard.

Questions Presented

1. Whether good cause existed under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c) to enter a stipulated protective order governing confidential discovery materials.
2. What restrictions and procedures should govern the designation, use, disclosure, challenge, sealing, and disposition of protected discovery material.

Disposition

other