Zondo v. North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

OCR transcription for search; preserved printed pages are authoritative

Case 1:19-cv-00009-DMT-CRH Document 42 Filed 10/07/21 Page1of9

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NORTH DAKOTA

Paul Zondo,
Plaintiff, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
Vs.
North Dakota Department of Corrections Case No. 1:19-cv-00009
and Rehabilitation,
Defendant.

Upon stipulation of the parties for an order pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P.
26(c) that confidential information be disclosed only in designated ways:
1. As used in the Protective Order, these terms have the following
meanings:
“Attorneys” means counsel of record;
“Confidential” documents are documents that contain information
protected under state or federal law that are designated pursuant to
paragraph 2;
“Documents” are all materials within the scope of Fed. R. Civ. P. 34;
“Outside Vendors” means messenger, copy, coding, and other
clerical-services vendors not employed by a party or its Attorneys;

and

“Written Assurance” means an executed document in the form
attached as Exhibit A.

2. A Party may designate a document “Confidential”, to protect
information that is protected under state or federal law as authorized under Fed. R.
Civ. P. 26(c).

3. All Confidential documents, along with the information contained
in the documents, shall be used solely for the purpose of this action, and no
person receiving such documents shall, directly or indirectly, use, transfer,
disclose, or communicate in any way the documents or their contents to any

person other than those specified in paragraph 4. Any other use is prohibited.

AUTHENTICATED
U.S. GOVERNMENT
INFORMATION

GPO

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4. Access to any Confidential document shall be limited to:
(a) The Court and its staff;
(b) Attorneys, their law firms, and their Outside Vendors;

(c) Persons shown on the face of the document to have authored
or received it;

(d) Court reporters retained to transcribe testimony;

(e) The parties;

(f) Outside independent persons (i.e., persons not currently or
formerly employed by, consulting with, or otherwise associated
with any party) who are retained by a party or its Attorneys to
provide assistance as mock jurors or focus group members or
the like, or to furnish technical or expert services, and/or to give
testimony in this action.

5. Third parties producing documents in the course of this action may
also designate documents as “Confidential”, subject to the same protections and
constraints as the parties to the action. A copy of the Protective Order shall be
served along with any subpoena served in connection with this action. All
documents produced by such third parties shall be treated as “Confidential” for a
period of 14 days from the date of their production, and during that period any
party may designate such documents as “Confidential” pursuant to the terms of the
Protective Order.

6. Each person appropriately designated pursuant to paragraph 4(f) to
receive Confidential information shall execute a “Written Assurance” in the form
attached as Exhibit A. Opposing counsel shall be notified at least 14 days prior
to disclosure to any such person who is known to be an employee or agent of, or
consultant to, any competitor of the party whose designated documents are
soughtto be disclosed. Such notice shall provide a reasonable description of the

outside independent person to whom disclosure is sought sufficient to permit

objection to be made. If a party objects in writing to such disclosure within 14

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days after receipt of notice, no disclosure shall be made until the party seeking
disclosure obtains the prior approval of the Court or the objecting party.

7. All depositions or portions of depositions taken in this action that
contain confidential information may be designated “Confidential” and thereby
obtain the protections accorded other “Confidential” documents. Confidentiality
designations for depositions shall be made either on the record or by written notice
to the other party within 14 days of receipt of the transcript. Unless otherwise
agreed, depositions shall be treated as “Confidential” during the 14-day period
following receipt of the transcript. The deposition of any witness (or any portion of
such deposition) that encompasses Confidential information shall be taken only in
the presence of persons who are qualified to have access to such information.

8. Any party who inadvertently fails to identify documents as
“Confidential” shall, promptly upon discovery of its oversight, provide written
notice of the error and substitute appropriately-designated documents. Any
party receiving such improperly-designated documents shall retrieve such
documents from persons not entitled to receive those documents and, upon receipt
of the substitute documents, shall return or destroy the improperly-designated
documents.

9. If a party files a document containing Confidential information
with the Court, it shall do so in compliance with the Electronic Case Filing
Procedures for the District of North Dakota. That policy provides that if a party
seeks to file documents designated as “Confidential,” the party must first file a
motion for leave to file under seal, accompanied by a memorandum in
support, setting forth the legal basis for sealing the documents. If only portions
of the documents designated as “Confidential” contain sensitive information,

and a party seeks to file the documents with the court, that party must (1)

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file a motion for leave to file under seal and a memorandum in support of
the motion, which provides an explanation of the legal basis for redacting
information from the document, and (2) attach to the motion for leave to file
under seal an unredacted copy of the document and a proposed redacted
copy of the document. The proposed redactions shall be highlighted or
otherwise identified in a manner that enables the Court and the other party
to easily review the proposed redactions. Prior to disclosure at trial or a
hearing of materials or information designated “Confidential”, the parties
may seek further protections against public disclosure from the Court.

10. Any party may request a change in the designation of any
information designated “Confidential”. Any such document shall be treated as
designated until the change is completed. If the requested change in
designation is not agreed to, the party seeking the change may move the Court
for appropriate relief, providing notice to any third party whose designation of
produced documents as “Confidential” in the action may be affected. The
party asserting that the material is Confidential shall have the burden of
proving that the information in question is within the scope of protection
afforded by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c).

11. Within 60 days of the termination of this action, including any
appeals, each party shall either destroy or return to the opposing party all
documents designated by the opposing party as “Confidential”, and all copies of
such documents, and shall destroy all extracts and/or data taken from such
documents. Each party shall provide a certification as to such return or
destruction within the 60-day period. However, Attorneys shall be entitled to
retain a set of all documents filed with the Court and all correspondence

generated in connection with the action.

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12. Any party may apply to the Court for a modification of the
Protective Order, and nothing in this Protective Order shall be construed to
prevent a party from seeking such further provisions enhancing or limiting
confidentiality as may be appropriate.

18. No action taken in accordance with the Protective Order shall be
construed as a waiver of any claim or defense in the action or of any position as
to discoverability or admissibility of evidence.

14. The obligations imposed by the Protective Order shall survive the
termination of this action.

15. This stipulation does not usurp North Dakota Open Records laws. To
the extent there is a conflict between this stipulation and the obligations of any
written assurance executed pursuant to this stipulation and the North Dakota law
as it pertains to public records, North Dakota law controls.

Stipulated to:

Dated this 6t» day of October, 2021.

Ebeltoft . Sickler . Lawyers PLLC

Attorneys for Plaintiff

2272 Eighth Street West

Dickinson, North Dakota 58601

Telephone Number: (701) 225-LAWS (5297)

Facsimile Number: (701) 225-9650

Email: ngrant@ndlaw.com
sthomas@ndlaw.com

By: /s/ Shae Miller
Nicholas C. Grant, ND ID #07102
Shea Miller, ND ID #08498

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Dated this 6t* day of October, 2021.

State of North Dakota
Wayne Stenehjem
Attorney General

By: /s/Courtney R. Titus

Courtney R. Titus
Assistant Attorney General
State Bar ID No. 08810
Office of Attorney General
500 North 9th Street
Bismarck, ND 58501-4509
Telephone (701) 328-3640
Facsimile (701) 328-4300
Email ctitus@nd.gov

Attorneys for Defendant.

ORDER
The court ADOPTS the parties’ stipulation without any additions or modifications.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated this 7th day of October, 2021.
/s/ Clare R. Hochhalter
Clare R. Hochhalter, Magistrate Judge
United States District Court
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Case 1:19-cv-00009-DMT-CRH Document 42 Filed 10/07/21 Page 8of9

EXHIBIT A
WRITTEN ASSURANCE
, declares that:
I reside at in the City of
, County of , state of

. My telephone number is

I am currently employed by ,

located at ,

and my current job title is

I have read and I understand the terms of the Protective Order dated

, filed in Case No. , pending in the

United States District Court for the District of North Dakota. I agree to comply
with and be bound by the provisions of the Protective Order. I understand that any
violation of the Protective Order may subject me to sanctions by the Court.

I shall not divulge any documents, or copies of documents, designated
“Confidential” obtained pursuant to such Protective Order, or the contents of such
documents, to any person other than those specifically authorized by the Protective
Order. I shall not copy or use such documents except for the purposes of this action
and pursuant to the terms of the Protective Order.

As soon as practical, but no later than 30 days after final termination of this

action, I shall return to the attorney from whom I have received them, any

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documents in my possession designated “Confidential”, and all copies, excerpts,
summaries, notes, digests, abstracts, and indices relating to such documents.

I submit myself to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the
District of North Dakota for the purpose of enforcing or otherwise providing relief

relating to the Protective Order.

Executed on

(Date) (Signature)