From yesterday's order by Seventh Circuit Judges Diane Sykes, Frank Easterbrook & Michael Brennan in Doe v. M.S.:
Plaintiff seeks to hold two detectives liable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for making statements, when visiting his cell, that may have allowed other inmates to infer that he has supplied valuable information to law-enforcement personnel. The district court denied defendants' motion for summary judgment, and they have appealed.
The district court entered an order sealing the litigation in large measure, which effectively created anonymity for the litigants and any potential witnesses. A motion to continue the sealing during the appeal led to a one-judge order denying that request but requiring anonymity all around. The result is that the parties have filed public briefs but not identified the persons involved. After hearing oral argument, this court now concludes that anonymity is inappropriate given this court's strong presumption that adult litigants must use their own names. See, e.g., Doe v. Loyola University Chicago, 100 F.4th 910 (7th Cir. 2024); Doe v. Indiana University, 101 F.4th 485, 491–93 (7th Cir. 2024); Doe v. Blue Cross & Blue Shield United of Wisconsin, 112 F.3d 869, 872 (7th Cir. 1997).
As far as we can see, anonymity for the defendants is utterly inappropriate. Police officers, prison guards, and many other public officials are regularly sued in their own names on account of acts said to be unlawful or even unconstitutional. At oral argument counsel for the defendants consented to the use of their names. Counsel suggested that the district judge may have believed that identifying the defendants would have identified the plaintiff too, but any such belief is unsupported. The defendants are police officers who have dealt with hundreds if not thousands of prisoners over the years. Publication of defendants' identities would not point to any one prisoner.
Plaintiff sought to remain anonymous out of a professed fear that he would be harmed by other inmates.
