In this article, a newspaper is petitioning the 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to unseal case documents concerning a woman who was fired for having an abortion. (The court ruled the employer’s actions as unlawful.)

I understand the paper’s interest in wanting to know the details of the case, but I also understand the woman’s attorney for wanting to keep her identity protected. The attorney is quoted as saying: “If you couldn’t seal cases like this, a lot of people, like this Jane Doe,” he said, “would not file suit at all.”

Admittedly, I’m not clear on all the legalese involving the sealing of a case docket versus individual case documents (if there is a difference?), but I do think it’s reasonable to keep the plaintiff’s real name anonymous.

The article can be read here: http://www.rcfp.org/newsitems/index.php?i=6801