Opinions and documents
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF DELAWARE
DARTON ARCHERY, LLC, )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
Vv. ) C.A. 23-140-CFC
)
BOWTECH, LLC f/k/a BOWTECH, INC., )
BOWTECH GP, LLC, EXCALIBUR )
CROSSBOW, LLC, EXCALIBUR )
CROSSBOW US, LLC, EXCALIBUR )
CROSSBOW HOLDINGS, LLC, and )
EXCALIBUR CROSSBOW INVESTORS, )
LLC, )
)
Defendnats. )
MEMORANDUM ORDER
Pending before me is Defendants’ Unopposed Motion to Seal Exhibit 1 to
Defendants’ Corporate Disclosure Statement (D.I. 17). Defendants want to
maintain under seal the ownership and citizenship of JDH Capital I, LP, a
Delaware limited partnership that is the sole member of Bowhunter Acquisition,
LLC, which is the sole member of Defendant Bowtech, LLC, which is the sole
member of Defendant Excalibur Crossbow, LLC and Defendant Excalibur
Crossbow US, LLC.
The District Court is not a star chamber. We are a public institution in a
democratic republic and the public has a right of access to our filings and
proceedings. That right is founded in the common law and “antedates the
Constitution.” Bank of Am. Nat’l Tr. & Sav. Ass'n v. Hotel Rittenhouse Assocs.,
800 F.2d 339, 343 (3d Cir. 1986). The public’s right of access is not absolute; but
it is strongly presumed, and it can be overcome only if a party demonstrates that
public disclosure of a filing will result in “a clearly defined and serious injury,” Jn
re Avandia Mktg., Sales Pracs. & Prod. Liab. Litig., 924 F.3d 662,672 (3d Cir.
2019).
Defendants state that “[d]etails pertaining to the specific ownership of JDH
Capital I, LP, are not publicly available and disclosure of such confidential
material risks substantial harm to JDH Capital I, LP’s business interests.” D.I. 17
at 1. Defendants do not say how JDH Capital I, LP’s business interests could
suffer harm by the public disclosure of the identity and citizenship of its owners.
In any event, the public disclosure that an individual has an ownership interest in
an entity created by a state cannot be said to constitute a clearly defined and
serious injury. Corporations and limited partnerships may offer individuals
protection from liability, but they do not entitle individuals to anonymity in court
proceedings.
Now therefore, at Wilmington on this Third day of April in 2023,
Defendants’ Unopposed Motion to Seal Exhibit 1 to Defendants’ Corporate
Disclosure Statement (D.I. 17) is DENIED.
Chief Judge 7
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