NEWS FROM U.S. DISTRICT COURT
August 10, 2018

MOTIONS TO SEAL: Except for specific sealed plea and sentencing related documents that should be electronically filed in criminal cases, parties cannot electronically file sealed documents in CM/ECF without first obtaining permission from the court. You can request permission by filing a motion to seal. This is done by physically submitting a paper motion to seal and the document you want sealed to the Clerk’s Office. A motion to seal MUST contain an original ink signature. If the document you want sealed is signed by an attorney, it must also contain an original ink signature.
The Clerk’s Office will file the motion to seal in CM/ECF as a public document. The document you want sealed will be attached to the motion as a sealed attachment and will not be accessible by parties or the public. If the court enters an order granting the motion to seal, the Clerk’s Office will re-file the attachment as a separate sealed document on the public docket sheet using the Sealed Document event. The parties will receive notice when the sealed document is filed, but they will not be able to access it. For more information about motions to seal, see the CM/ECF User Manual.

TIP OF THE MONTH: Like the forms available on the District Court’s public website, the CM/ECF User Manual is periodically updated. When consulting the CM/ECF User Manual, always check the date on the cover to make sure you are referring to the most recent version.
If you have trouble opening the CM/ECF User Manual or a form on the District Court’s public website it is probably due to an issue with the Adobe plugin in your internet browser. To avoid this issue, please try the following:
• Right-click on the link for the pdf document on the District Court’s public website
• Select the option “Save target as...”
• Save the document to a location on your computer (outside of your internet browser)
• Open the document from the location where it is saved