ORIGINAL

IN T H E STATE C O U R T OF D E K A L B C O U N T Y STATE OF G E O R G I A PATRICK C. DESMOND A N D MARY C. DESMOND, INDIVIDUALLY, and MARY C. DESMOND, AS ADMINISTRATRIX OF THE ESTATE OF PATRICK W. DESMOND, Plaintiffs, v. NARCONON OF GEORGIA, INC., DELGADO DEVELOPMENT, INC., SOVEREIGN PLACE, LLC, SOVEREIGN PLACE APARTMENT MANAGEMENT, INC., LISA CAROLINA ROBBINS, M.D., THE ROBBINS GROUP, INC., and N A R C O N O N INTERNATIONAL, Defendants. Civil Action File N o . 10A28641-2

PETITION

OF ANN LOWE AND MATTHEW OF RECORD AND OPEN

HURLEY DEPOSITIONS

TO UNSEAL DOCUMENTS

Petitioners A n n Lowe and Matthew Hurley hereby request, as provided by Uniform State Court Rule 21, that this Court unseal certain documents currently filed under seal and inaccessible to the public, and further request that all deposition transcripts be opened and made available for public inspection no later than the conclusion of the case. I n support of this petition, they show the Court as follows:

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Statement of Interest Ann Lowe and Matthew Hurley are members of the public and citizens of the State of Georgia/They are also members of a community of individuals who participate in an internet forum called "The Tipping Point." Members of this group, including Ms.
1

Lowe and Mr. Hurley, have a history of, and believe strongly in, making public information freely available and, in particular, have sought to facilitate public access to information regarding various Narconon entities and related groups. Moreover, Lowe and Hurley feel strongly in the transparency of any organization, such as the various Narconon entities, that may receive favorable tax treatment under 26 U .S.C. 501(c)(3).

Argument and Citation of Authority Plaintiffs filed a number of documents with the Court on April 16, 2012, which were designated as being filed under seal. While it appears that certain documents were previously covered by a protective order prior to being filed with the Court, plaintiffs' own motion to unseal the documents, filed May i , 2012, suggests that this protection ended once the documents were used for litigation. Regardless of any stipulated protection provided, these documents are now a part of the record and, these petitioners argue, should be subject to public access. As

The forum is located at http://www.reacrungforthetippingpoint.net/ Page 2 of 6

plaintiffs noted in their own unsealing motion, there is a presumption of a right of public access to judicial documents, and the burden is on any parties opposing, such access to demonstrate why their privacy interests outweigh the public's interest in open access. See, e.g., Atlanta Journal v. Long, 258 Ga. 410,414 (1988). And as our Supreme Court noted in Long, "[p]ublic access protects litigants both present and future, because justice faces its gravest threat when courts dispense it secretly." Id. at 411. See also Uniform State Court Rules 21 and 21.2 ("All court records are public and are to be available for public inspection unless public access is limited by law or by the procedure set forth below.... A n order limiting access shall not be granted except upon a finding that the harm otherwise resulting to the privacy of a person in interest clearly outweighs the public interest."); Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. v. CBS, Inc., 184 F. Supp. 2d 1353 (N.D. Ga. 2002) (discussing right to public access to court records in federal context). In addition to the general public interest in access to court records, plaintiffs' May 4,2012 supplemental memorandum in support of their motion to unseal these documents alleges that the State of Georgia has determined that Narconon of Georgia's operations constitute an illegal residential treatment facility. In light of these allegations, the public interest in full access to documents relevant to this litigation is manifest. These petitioners specifically request that the following sets of documents be

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unsealed, consistent with plaintiffs' own unsealing motion (with Bates identification): (1) Urgent Directive Documents (008588-008593); (2) Post-Incident Documents (009821-009834); (3) Board of Investigation Documents (009910-009976); and (4) Miscellaneous Narconon Documents (10012-10116). Additionally, they request that, no later than the final disposition of this case, the Court order that all deposition transcripts be unsealed. These transcripts were filed with the Court and are part of the record, and therefore are subject to the same right of access as the other documents enumerated in this petition and in plaintiffs' May 1, 2012 motion. These petitioners emphasize that they are not seeking disclosure of the names of any individuals protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HTPAA), Confidentiality of Patient Records Act (CPRA), or any other provisions intended to protect personal information under any federal or state privacy or confidentiality provision.

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Conclusion Because of the public's interest i n open access to court records, A n n Lowe a n d Matthew Hurley request that the above-referenced records be ordered unsealed, a n d that all deposition transcripts filed in the records of this case be opened and ordered publicly available before or at the time this matter is closed by dismissal or otherwise Respectfully submitted this 23rd day of May, 2012.

John D . Hadden Georgia Bar No. 141317 Stefan C. Turkheimer Georgia Bar No. 100121 Attorneys for A n n Lowe and Matthew Hurley TURKHEIMER & HADDEN, L L C 142 Walker Street Atlanta, Georgia 30313 (404) 890-7200

STATE COURT OF DEKALB COUNTY. GA.

20I2MAY25 AH 10: Ufa,

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CERTIFICATE

OF SERVICE

I certify that I have served the foregoing document upon the following counsel of record via United States Mail, proper postage prepaid, as follows: Mr. Jeffrey Harris Mr. J. Antonio DelCampo Mr. Jed Manton 400 Colony Square, Suite 900 1201 Peachtree Street, N E Atlanta, Georgia 30361 Ms. Rebecca Franklin 400 Colony Square, Suite 900 1201 Peachtree Street, N E Atlanta, Georgia 30361 Mr. Robert Tanner Mr. Jeffrey Amason 3344 Peachtree Road, Suite 2400 Atlanta, Georgia 30326 Mr. SeanHynes 288 Washington Avenue Marietta, Georgia 30060 Mr. Stevan Miller 880 West Peachtree Street Post Office Box 7600 Atlanta, Georgia 30357 Mr. David Root Ms. Cheryn Shaw 191 Peachtree Street, N E Suite 3600 Atlanta, Georgia 30303

This 23rd day of May, 2012.

X j o h n D . Hadden ( Georgia Bar No. 141317 TURKHEIMER & HADDEN, LLC 142 Walker Street Atlanta, Georgia 30313 (404) 890-7200

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