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S 2364 113th Congress Senate

Sunshine in Litigation Act of 2014

Official title: A bill to amend chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, relating to protective orders, sealing of cases, disclosures of discovery information in civil actions, and for other purposes.

Introduced: May 20, 2014 Introduced by: Blumenthal, Richard Democratic · Connecticut See on congress.gov
Law Civil actions and liabilityEvidence and witnessesFreedom of informationGovernment information and archives
More subjectsShow fewer subjects
Health information and medical recordsRight of privacy
This bill died when the 113th Congress ended
It never became law before the 113th Congress (2013–2014) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
May 20, 2014
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
May 20, 2014
Introduced in Senate
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 Latest action May 20, 2014

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Sunshine in Litigation Act of 2014 - Amends the federal judicial code to prohibit a court, in any civil action in which the pleadings state facts relevant to protecting public health or safety, from entering an order restricting the disclosure of information obtained through discovery, approving a settlement agreement that would restrict such disclosure, or restricting access to court records, subject to exceptions, unless the court has first made independent findings of fact that: (1) the order would not restrict the disclosure of information relevant to the protection of public health or safety or (2) the public interest in the disclosure of past, present, or potential health or safety hazards is outweighed by a specific and substantial interest in maintaining the confidentiality of the information and the requested protective order is no broader than necessary to protect the confidentiality interest asserted. Prohibits a court from approving any party's stipulation or request to stipulate to an order that would violate this Act.

Prohibits such a court from: (1) approving or enforcing any provision of an agreement between or among parties, or an order entered under this Act, to the extent that it restricts a party from disclosing information to any federal or state agency with authority to enforce laws regulating an activity relating to such information (requires such information disclosed to a federal or state agency to be confidential to the extent provided by law); or (2) enforcing any provision of a settlement agreement described under this Act between or among parties to such civil action that prohibits a party from disclosing that a settlement was reached or the terms of the settlement, other than the amount paid, or from discussing the civil action, or evidence produced in it, that involves matters relevant to the protection of public health or safety. Excepts from this enforcement prohibition (thus allowing enforcement of) a settlement agreement provision about which the court finds that the public interest in the disclosure of past, present, or potential health or safety hazards is outweighed by a specific and substantial interest in maintaining the confidentiality of the information or records in question and that the requested protective order is no broader than necessary to protect the confidentiality interest asserted.

Creates a rebuttable presumption that the interest in protecting personally identifiable information relating to an individual's financial, health, or other similar information outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to permit, require, or authorize the disclosure of, and no court shall be prohibited from restricting disclosure of or access to: (1) information classified under a secret Executive order concerning national defense or foreign policy, or (2) intelligence sources and methods.

Bars this Act from providing a basis for: (1) granting a motion to reconsider, modify, amend, or vacate a protective or settlement order entered before the effective date of this Act; or (2) reversing such an order retroactively on appeal.

 Related & companion bills 1
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
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APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 2364: Sunshine in Litigation Act of 2014. 113th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/113-S-2364/
MLA
"S. 2364: Sunshine in Litigation Act of 2014." 113th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/113-S-2364/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 2364, 113th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/113-S-2364/.
Markdown link
[S. 2364: Sunshine in Litigation Act of 2014](https://openamerica.io/bill/113-S-2364/)
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