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K.M. EX REL. J.M. v. HICKENLOOPER, 17-cv-00067-PAB-CBS. (2017)

Court: District Court, D. Colorado Number: infdco20170202c78 Visitors: 7
Filed: Feb. 01, 2017
Latest Update: Feb. 01, 2017
Summary: ORDER PHILIP A. BRIMMER , District Judge . This matter is before the Court on Plaintiffs' Unopposed Motion to Proceed Using Pseudonym [Docket No. 18], wherein plaintiffs move the Court to allow all plaintiffs, except the Arc of Pueblo and the Arc Pikes Peak Region, to proceed under pseudonyms. Id. In their complaint, plaintiffs allege that people with severe intellectual or developmental disabilities who resided at Pueblo Regional Center ("PRC") in March 2015 were subjected to forcible st
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ORDER

This matter is before the Court on Plaintiffs' Unopposed Motion to Proceed Using Pseudonym [Docket No. 18], wherein plaintiffs move the Court to allow all plaintiffs, except the Arc of Pueblo and the Arc Pikes Peak Region, to proceed under pseudonyms. Id. In their complaint, plaintiffs allege that people with severe intellectual or developmental disabilities who resided at Pueblo Regional Center ("PRC") in March 2015 were subjected to forcible strip searches without their consent, "including hands-on genital contact in many cases." Docket No. 1-4 at 3 ¶ 2. Plaintiffs are concerned that having to litigate this case in their own names would "severely embarrass them and invade their privacy." Docket No. 18 at 4. Plaintiffs seek to protect the identities of family members and guardians among the plaintiffs because revealing their names would tend to reveal the names of those plaintiffs who lived at PRC. Id. at 5.

The Court finds that this is one of the "exceptional cases involving matters of a highly sensitive and personal nature" where proceeding under a pseudonym is appropriate. Femedeer v. Haun, 227 F.3d 1244, 1246 (10th Cir. 2000) (quoting Doe v. Frank, 951 F.2d 320, 324 (11th Cir. 1992)). Further, in light of the allegations in the complaint, the Court finds that the public interest does not outweigh the plaintiffs' privacy interests. See M.M. v. Zavaras, 139 F.3d 798, 802 (10th Cir. 1998) (discussing Lindsey v. Dayton-Hudson Corp., 592 F.2d 1118 (10th Cir. 1979). Accordingly, it is

ORDERED that Plaintiffs' Unopposed Motion to Proceed Using Pseudonym [Docket No. 18] is GRANTED.

Source:  Leagle

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