From Elswick v. Hall, decided today by Magistrate Judge Cheryl Eifert (S.D. W. Va.):
Pending before the Court is Defendant Officers' Motion for Protective Order, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c). Defendants seek to prevent Plaintiff's counsel from publishing the videotaped depositions of Defendants Hall, Rahmati, Lowther, and of a witness, Kenny Davis, on counsel's YouTube channel. Defendants contend that publication of the depositions will lead to embarrassment and annoyance and will expose the defendants and the witness, who are police officers, to unnecessary risk. Defendants also seek attorneys' fees and expenses incurred in moving for the protective order.
Plaintiff has filed a response to the Motion, indicating that he will agree not [to] publish or disseminate the videotaped depositions until after conclusion of the jury trial or other adjudication of the case, but he objects to a protective order that grants "broad post-trial restraint." Plaintiff asserts that he has a First Amendment right to use the depositions and that right should not be unnecessarily restricted.
Defendants have submitted a reply memorandum in which they argue that they are not asking the Court to limit Plaintiff's right to use the information in the depositions. They simply do not want the videotapes themselves to be published. They reiterate concerns for their safety and argue that a protective order is necessary to ensure that approval is obtained from the Court before the depositions are published to the general public. Defendants point out that the depositions were taken for discovery purposes and may never become a part of the public record….
