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Plaintiffs Can't Sue the Chinese Government with Largely Sealed Complaint

Eugene Volokh | 4.25.2026 2:56 PM

From Chief Judge James Boasberg (D.D.C.) Friday in Shofner v. Shenyang Dadong District People's Court:

Plaintiffs … bring this action arising from an early-education investment project in Shenyang, China, asserting claims under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, the Alien Tort Statute, and the Torture Victim Protection Act. Plaintiffs filed an eight-page Complaint on the public docket. They concurrently moved to file a separate, unredacted Complaint—together with a voluminous set of exhibits—under seal….

Plaintiffs' Motion arises from concerns that the Complaint contains "sensitive information relating to personal safety, foreign-related legal procedures, and ongoing matters involving foreign government entities." Two flaws, however, pervade their request: the scope of information Plaintiffs have redacted far exceeds the narrow request they claim to advance, and the harms they invoke—threats from Defendants themselves—are harms that sealing cannot prevent….

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