Filing Pseudonymously: Delaware
Contents
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Delaware
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Caselaw
Delaware has no officially reported cases in which plaintiffs proceed as Does. Unreported cases with Doe plaintiffs are only civil actions brought on behalf of child victims of sexual assault.
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Doe v. Green, No. 06C-04-005 ESB, 2008 WL 282319 (Del. Super. Ct. 2008) – Court notes that Doe is a pseudonym. Id. at *1 n.1.
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Doe v. Hollingsworth, No. 06C-07-031-RFS, 2007 WL 4575839 (Del. Super. Ct. 2007) – no mention.
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Filing Requirements & Availability of Court Records
DEL. SUPER. CT. CIV. R. 10 (2010). Form of pleadings
(a) Caption: Names of parties. -- Every pleading shall contain a caption setting forth the name of the Court, the title of the action, the file number, and a designation as in Rule 7(a). In the complaint the title of the action shall include the names of all the parties, but in other pleadings it is sufficient to state the name of the first party on each side with an appropriate indication of other parties.
Delaware State Courts Opinions and Orders (last visited Apr. 20, 2010) provides records to all courts dating back to 2000, as well as from 1996 and 1909.
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Relevant Statutes
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DEL. SUP. CT. R. 7 (2010): Commencement of appeal
(d) Use of pseudonyms. -- All appeals concerning domestic relations matters shall be captioned and reported with the full names of the individual parties, except that the following shall be captioned and reported by use of appropriate pseudonyms selected by the Court: matters concerning adoption, termination of parental rights, child custody and visitation, juvenile delinquency proceedings and any other domestic relations matters, which in the discretion of the trial court, a lower appellate court or this Court, are deemed to be of a sensitive nature. In such cases, the parties shall, within 10 days of the filing of the notice of appeal submit to the Court for its approval a stipulation providing for the use of pseudonyms, which sets forth and is consistent with the pseudonyms used in the court below or, in the absence of a stipulation, the Court may order the use of pseudonyms sua sponte.
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16 DEL. C. § 711 (2010): Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Confidentiality of records and information
(5) Release is made during the course of civil or criminal litigation to a person allowed access to said records by a court order which is issued in compliance with the following provisions: . . . (b). Pleadings pertaining to disclosure of such records shall substitute a pseudonym for the true name of the subject of the records. The disclosure to the parties of the subject's true name shall be communicated confidentially, in documents not filed with the court.
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16 DEL. C. § 1203 (2010): Informed Consent and Confidentiality: HIV-related tests: Confidentiality
(10) A person allowed access to said [confidential HIV health] record by a court order which is issued in compliance with the following provisions: . . . (b). Pleadings pertaining to disclosure of test results shall substitute a pseudonym for the true name of the subject of the test. The disclosure to the parties of the subject's true name shall be communicated confidentially, in documents not filed with the court.
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