Lewiston Public Schools v. Spurwink Services, Inc., et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of Maine grants Lewiston Public Schools’ motion to allow a student and the student’s parents to proceed under pseudonyms and to seal documents containing their actual names. The order applies First Circuit standards governing pseudonym use and requires sealed filing of an affidavit identifying the parents and any documents containing the protected names.

Holdings

1. A parent or guardian may proceed under a pseudonym when, after balancing privacy interests against the public interest in transparency under First Circuit guidance, anonymity is warranted. Because disclosure of the parents' names would increase the likelihood that the student's identity would become known and frustrate the purpose of Local Rule 16.3(e)(3), the court permitted the parents to use pseudonyms.
2. Documents filed in the action that include the actual names of the student or the student's parents must be filed under seal, with a redacted version filed on the public docket.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the student's parents should be permitted to proceed under pseudonyms.
2. Whether documents containing the actual names of the student or the student's parents should be filed under seal.

Disposition

other