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Case 18-2868, Document 273-2, 08/09/2019, 2628218, Page21 of 25 circumstances, district courts may impose sanctions on attorneys and parties under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(c).# E. A Cautionary Note We conclude with a note of caution to the public regarding the reliability of court filings such as those unsealed today. Materials submitted by parties to a court should be understood for what they are. They do not reflect the court’s own findings. Rather, they are prepared by parties seeking to advance their own interests in an adversarial process. Although affidavits and depositions are offered “under penalty of perjury,” it is in fact exceedingly rare for anyone to be prosecuted for perjury in a civil proceeding.* Similarly, “In relevant part, Rule 11 provides: By presenting to the court a pleading, written motion, or other paper... an attorney or unrepresented party certifies that . . . it is not being presented for any improper purpose, such as to harass, cause unnecessary delay, or needlessly increase the cost of litigation . . . . [T]he court may impose an appropriate sanction on any attorney, law firm, or party that violated the tule or is responsible for the violation . . . . The sanction may include nonmonetary directives; an order to pay a penalty into court; or, if imposed on motion and warranted for effective deterrence, an order directing payment to the movant of part or all of the reasonable attorney’s fees and other expenses directly resulting from the violation. Fed. R. Civ. P. 11. See also Amodeo II, 71 F.3d at 1049 (describing sanctions available to the court). 4 Sonia Sotomayor & Nicole A. Gordon, Returning Majesty to the Law and Politics: A Modern Approach, 30 Suffolk U. L. Rev. 35, 47 n.52 (1996) ("Perjury cases are not often pursued ....”). 21