Doe

Petitioner John Doe seeks a writ of mandate vacating an order of the superior court directing that all future proceedings in the underlying action, brought pursuant to Civil Code section 1708.85, be filed with his true name. We grant the petition, vacate the superior court’s April 8, 2016 order compelling the parties to file all future documents utilizing Doe’s true name, and direct the superior court to treat Judicial Council Confidential Information form MC-125 as confidential and not available for public inspection.

BACKGROUND

Section 1708.85, which became operative on July 1, 2015, provides for a private cause of action “against a person who intentionally distributes by any means a photograph, film, videotape, recording, or any other reproduction of another, without the other’s consent, if (1) the person knew that the other person had a reasonable expectation that the material would remain private, (2) the distributed material exposes an intimate body part of the other person, or shows the other person engaging in an act of intercourse, oral copulation, sodomy, or other act of sexual penetration, and (3) the other person suffers general or special damages as…