Adam Bagni v. New Bedford, City of - Police Department (SPR 20170240)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords March 7, 2017 SPR17/240 Lieutenant Amos Melo Public Information Officer City of New Bedford - Police Department 871 Rockdale Avenue New Bedford, MA 02740 Dear Lieutenant Melo: I have received the petition of Adam Bagni, of NBC I 0, WJ AR-TV appealing the response of the City of New Bedford - Police Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Bagni requested mug shots of certain individuals. The Department denied his request, claiming that the responsive records are exempt from disclosure under the Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) Act as it operates through Exemption (a) of the Public Records Law. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(a); G. L. c. 6, § 167; 803 CMR2.03(3)-(4). It is my understanding that the legal issues surrounding the public status of the records in question are the subject of a dispute in active litigation in the Suffolk Superior Court. See Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC v. Dep't of Criminal Justice Info. Servs., Civil Action No. 1584CV01404. Accordingly, I decline to opine on this matter. See 950 CMR 32.08(2)(b). Sincerely, ~~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Adam Bagni One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre• pre@sec.state.ma.us