312 results for 'cat:"Public Record"'.
J. Pickett finds that the trial court properly denied the individual's request for the issuance of a write of mandamus ordering the court clerk for the Fifteenth Judicial District Court to produce records per the Public Records Law regarding his criminal prosecution for aggravated rape. The individual claims that the trial court erred when it did not require the court clerk to product documents showing that nine of the 11 grand jurors on the grand jury panel specifically voted to indict him, but the individual already exhausted his appellate remedies and can only file for post-conviction relief, which he did not do. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Pickett, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: CA-24-3, Categories: public Record
J. Blakey partially grants motions for summary judgment from both a collection of immigrant rights and civil rights advocacy groups, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The advocacy groups seek documents from the agency related to its "Citizens Academy" programs via Freedom of Information Act requests. The agency styles as the Citizens Academies as community outreach programs but it has been slow to produce the information the advocacy groups seek, and some of the documents it has produced have redactions. The court finds the agency's search for relevant records has been adequate in all but one regard, and orders both parties to prepare a sample of contested documents for in-camera review.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Blakey, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv2519, NOS: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) - Other Suits, Categories: Government, Immigration, public Record
J. Segal partially affirms the district court in a case surrounding information gathered by journalists covering protests of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The Minnesota Free Flow of Information Act protects newsgathering information from disclosure whether or not they were obtained through unlawful or tortious conduct. The district court erred in ordering the media organization to produce a privilege log and submit information it was claiming as privileged for in camera review. Affirmed in part.
Court: Minnesota Court Of Appeals, Judge: Segal, Filed On: May 6, 2024, Case #: A23-1284, Categories: public Record, Privilege, First Amendment
[Consolidated] J. Pate finds the superior court erred in approving confidential treatment of certain financial statements an oil company submitted to the Regulatory Commission of Alaska to decide whether an oil company seeking to operate Alaska’s largest pipeline had the financial capacity to do so consistent with the best interests of the public. The city “fulfilled the purposes of the exhaustion requirement by creating a factual record, allowing the RCA to exercise its expertise, and giving the agency the opportunity to correct its own errors without judicial involvement.” Reversed.
Court: Alaska Supreme Court, Judge: Pate, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: S-18178, Categories: public Record
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J. Durkin partially grants motions for summary judgment from both the FBI and the journalist who is suing over access to records. The journalist accuses the FBI of illicitly monitoring Arab and Muslim communities in Chicagoland from the late 90s through early 2000s, and sued the bureau for the relevant files. The files the FBI produced were heavily censored, and now the court finds it must lift any redactions in the relevant documents concerning identified individuals’ race, ethnicity and nationality. However, the court will also allow the FBI to withhold documents that the bureau deemed too sensitive to be shown publicly.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Durkin, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 1:17cv4782, NOS: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) - Other Suits, Categories: Government, public Record, Privacy
J. Kenworthy finds that the trial court improperly ruled in claims seeking access to public records because Indiana law allows the office of the inspector general to issue advisory opinions if requested, and those opinions are confidential. Thus, the attorney general was within his right to deny access to an opinion he had requested from the inspector general's office. Reversed.
Court: Indiana Court Of Appeals, Judge: Kenworthy, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 23A-PL-705, Categories: public Record
J. Boasberg partially grants the Justice Department's motion for summary judgment in the public-policy organization's Freedom of Information Act suit seeking the release of communications regarding a dismissed FBI agent alleged to have leaked information to the media and improperly discredited information about Hunter Biden. He also partially grants the organization's cross-motion for summary judgment. While the Bureau is correct that some of the requested records are subject to FOIA exemptions for law-enforcement records and invasions of privacy interests, the balance of interests favors release of non-law-enforcement records containing the agent's last name and the term "whistleblower," or the agent's last name with the last name of his accuser, "Grassley."
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Boasberg, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv1148, NOS: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) - Other Suits, Categories: Government, public Record
J. Huddle finds that the court of appeals properly ruled to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the successors of a property owner whose property was foreclosed upon and the mineral rights were sold to the owner of an oil company. Because the foreclosure of the property occurred over 20 years ago, the statute of limitations on the successors' claim has already expired. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Supreme Court, Judge: Huddle, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 22-0913, Categories: Property, public Record, Due Process
J. McDermott finds that an organization was improperly denied an open records request seeking emails sent between the state auditor’s office and two investigative reporters in regard to state Covid-19 policy because the auditor did not produce the emails for 216 days, which constituted an unreasonable delay. Reversed in part.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDermott, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 23-0201, Categories: Civil Procedure, public Record, Covid-19
J. AliKhan grants summary judgment to the FBI in the information seekers' Freedom of Information Act suit related to the 2012 attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya. The FBI has adequately established that withheld records are part of an ongoing investigation of the attacks, and existing public accounts of the attacks do not undermine the agency's concerns about interference with that investigation.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: AliKhan, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 1:14cv1589, NOS: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) - Other Suits, Categories: Administrative Law, public Record, Agency
J. Moss partially grants the FDA's motion for summary judgment and the tobacco vaporizer maker's cross-motion for summary judgment in a Freedom of Information Act suit brought by the vape maker seeking information on its denied premarket tobacco applications. The FDA's withholding of records under an exemption for "inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters" was proper because those documents were part of the deliberative process, regardless of the vape maker's various arguments that they were produced after the agency's decisions were made, because they were nevertheless produced before those decisions were finalized and published. Memos summarizing scientific data also are not privilege-free scientific reports in this case, since they were compiled for deliberative purposes. The agency has also established that the release of withheld memos would cause foreseeable harm and would chill the ongoing supervisory review process.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Moss, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv2853, NOS: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) - Other Suits, Categories: Administrative Law, Government, public Record
J. Patterson finds that the appellate division properly dismissed claims contending the County Prosecutors of New Jersey constitutes a public agency subject to public records requests because a prosecutor is not a "political subdivision" of the state, and no statute or regulation requires nonprofit associations to maintain the requested documents. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Supreme Court, Judge: Patterson , Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: A-33-22, Categories: public Record
J. Fischer finds the lower court properly denied the newspaper's public records requests. When combined in a single request, the names, addresses, and causes of death for deceased individuals constitute "protected health information" not subject to disclosure under the Ohio Public Records Act. Although another statute makes death certificates public information, the inclusion of a cause of death with a decedent's name and address allows a petitioner to discover the past health status of an individual - prohibited by the Public Records Act - and so petitioners cannot seek disclosure of the records "en masse." Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Supreme Court, Judge: Fischer, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-1399, Categories: Government, Health Care, public Record
J. Aarons finds that the lower court properly dismissed a request to review the decision denying public records sought by plaintiff following revocation of his driver's license after he failed to attend a rescheduled hearing associated with his DUI arrest. The department of motor vehicles provided a copy of the hearing notice, and evidence did not indicate notice had been returned as undeliverable. Since revocation of the license was subsequently vacated, that issue is moot. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Aarons, Filed On: April 11, 2024, Case #: CV-23-0289, Categories: Civil Procedure, Licensing, public Record
J. Mackey finds that the lower court improperly reduced counsel fees awarded after plaintiff prevailed in claims seeking information from police relating to an alleged trespassing incident because the flat $5,000 award, reduced from the combined $33,300 sought by two attorneys, rendered the hourly rate more conforming to the locality without accounting for the hours put in. Instead, $12,100 should have been awarded, plus costs incurred. Reversed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Mackey, Filed On: April 11, 2024, Case #: CV-23-1044, Categories: public Record, Attorney Fees
J. Bendix finds that the trial court properly ordered the production of entries in the calendar of the governor's former senior energy advisor showing meetings with utilities, unions and the Public Utilities Commission. The deliberative process privilege does not apply because the public records request asked simply whether the meetings took place, not for information about the substance of the meetings. Also, the public has a substantial interest in knowing the level of interaction between the former advisor, Alice Reynolds, and the commission she now presides over as president.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bendix, Filed On: April 5, 2024, Case #: B330847, Categories: public Record, Privilege
J. Friedrich grants the Department of Justice's motion for summary judgment and partially grants the nonprofit's motion for summary judgment in the nonprofit's Freedom of Information Act action seeking records on the procurement of lethal-injection drugs. The names of contractors providing the drugs are confidential commercial information, as are key contract terms, and the department has shown that foreseeable harm would result from their disclosure. The department has, however, waived an exemption for some materials by publicly sharing it elsewhere. The department is ordered to produce sixteen challenged records and five publicly disclosed records for in camera review.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Friedrich, Filed On: March 31, 2024, Case #: 1:19cv3626, NOS: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) - Other Suits, Categories: Government, public Record
J. Lum finds the lower court properly denied the city's motion to exclude the draft of an annual financial report from the resident's public records request. Although the document was prepared for the benefit of elected officials, it was required to be sent to the state auditor and, therefore, did not involve any official discretion and was not work product subject to exemption under the Colorado Open Records Act. Affirmed.
Court: Colorado Court Of Appeals, Judge: Lum, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 2024COA30, Categories: Government, public Record
J. Casper denies a man with a criminal past’s motion to dismiss claims brought against him by a website owner, who the former criminal sent threatening emails to and published critical content about after the webmaster published information about his criminal history. The webmaster met the burden of showing he has plausibly suffered more than $75,000 in damages.
Court: USDC Massachusetts, Judge: Casper, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv10134, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: public Record, Damages, Defamation
Per curiam, the Ohio Supreme Court partially grants a writ of mandamus for the release of records related to a prisoner’s six public records requests. The court awards him statutory damages of $1,000 each, for two requests that were not fulfilled by the Ohio Department of Corrections. As for the other requests, the inmate submitted several requests to a contractor of the Ohio Department of Corrections that was not the custodian of the records; receiving referrals to the proper office does not constitute a denial of the request.
Court: Ohio Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-1015, Categories: public Record, Damages