From B.L. v. Fetherman, decided last Wednesday by Magistrate Judge Jessica Allen (D.N.J.):
This case arises out of Plaintiffs' legal challenge to portions of Mountain Lakes School District's ("MLSD") public-school curriculum on the basis that it is discriminatory against white students…. [A]ccording to Plaintiffs, Defendants have unlawfully discriminated against [B.L.'s child] J.L., have violated his constitutional rights and have subjected him to a hostile educational environment. B.L. also brings his own claims, alleging that Defendants' responses to his concerns violated his constitutional rights….
Plaintiffs … seek[] leave to proceed under pseudonyms …. In support of their motion, B.L. claims that he has been portrayed as a "villain" for challenging MLSD's curriculum, and that he has received threats, causing him to fear for his and J.L.'s safety….
"[O]ne of the essential qualities of a Court of Justice [is] that its proceedings should be public," an "important dimension" of which is that the person using the court identify themselves. The use of pseudonyms "runs afoul of the public's common law right of access to judicial proceedings …." Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 10(a) reflects those principles, stating "[t]he title of the complaint must name all the parties …."
"While not expressly permitted under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 10(a), in exceptional cases courts have allowed a party to proceed anonymously." To that end, courts have found such exceptional circumstances in cases involving subjects such as "abortion, birth control, transsexuality, mental illness, welfare rights of illegitimate children, AIDS, and homosexuality." The fact that a litigant may "suffer embarrassment or economic harm is not enough" to justify proceeding by pseudonym. "Instead, a plaintiff must show 'both (1) a fear of severe harm, and (2) that the fear of severe harm is reasonable.'"
The court concluded that plaintiff's case for pseudonymity was undermined by their having identified themselves to some other people in the community:
