McCants, Owen v. District Attorney of Suffolk County (SPR 20150094)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords April14, 2015 SPRlS/094 Ms. Dara Keselheim, Esq. Assistant District Attorney District Attorney of Suffolk County One Bulfinch Place Boston, MA 02114 Dear Attorney Callahan: I have received the petition of Owen McCants appealing the nonresponse of the District Attorney of Suffolk County (District Attorney) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. McCants requested, under the Fair Information Practices Act (FIP A), copies of personal data concerning him that is in the custody of the District Attorney. G. L. c. 66a. In response the District Attorney denied his request citing not FIP A but an exemption to the Public Records Law. The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10 (c ); 950 C.M.R. 32.08(4 ). "Public records" is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). Public records and any non-exempt, segregable portions thereof, are subject to mandatory disclosure upon request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(a); see also Reinstein v. Police Comm'r of Boston, 378 Mass. 281, 289-90 (1979) (the statutory exemptions are not blanket in nature). The Public Records Law states that "the burden shall be upon the custodian to prove with specificity the exemption which applies." G. L. c. 66, § 10(c) (emphasis added). See also Globe Newspaper Co. v. Police Comm'r, 419 Mass. 852, 857 (1995); District Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995). The response by the District Attorney did not contain the specificity required in a denial of access to public records. To comply with the Public Records Law and its Regulations a records custodian must provide specificity with respect to any denial of access to public records. This requires a records custodian to not only cite an exemption, but to specifically explain the applicability of the exemption to the requested records. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

Ms. Dara Keselheim, Esq. SPRlS/094 Page Two April14, 2015 I find the District Attorney has failed to meet its burden of specificity in denying access as it failed to respond to a request for personal data by a data subject. Accordingly, the District Attorney is hereby ordered to review the request by Mr. McCants to determine what, if any data subject information exists that is responsive to his request. This administrative appeal is now closed. ours, Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Owen McCants