As a former federal magistrate judge and counsel representing clients in product liability and environmental matters in California courts, we have serious concerns about California’s Senate Bill 1149. The bill would bar privacy protections in litigation, making information produced in discovery available to the public. As courts have recognized, “unlimited access to every item turned up in the course of litigation would be unthinkable. Reputations would be impaired, personal relationships ruined, and businesses destroyed on the basis of misleading or downright false information.” United States v. Amodeo, 71 F.3d 1044, 1048-49 (2d Cir. 1995).
S.B. 1149 and Similar Bills That Have Failed
Senate Bill 1149, also referred to as the “Public Right to Know Act,” would prevent parties in product liability and environmental litigation from reaching agreements, commonly referred to as protective orders, that protect the parties’ private and confidential data and information from being disclosed to the public.
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