Jesse Lee Bigham v. Department of Children and Families (SPR 20170259)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords March 7, 2017 SPR17/259 Adelaida Jasperse Assistant General Counsel and Primary Record Access Officer Department of Children and Families Office of the General Counsel 600 Washington Street, 6th Floor Boston, MA 02111 Dear Ms. Jasperse: I have received the petition of Jesse Lee Brigham appealing the nonresponse of the Department of Children and Families (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Brigham requested several categories of records, related to "criminal cases, civil cases, [and] divorce proceedings." Claiming to have not yet received any response, Mr. Brigham petitioned this office, and this appeal was opened as a result. Purpose of request Please note that the reason for which a requestor seeks access to or a copy of a public record does not afford any greater right of access to the requested information than other persons in the general public. The Public Records Law does not distinguish between requestors. Access to a record pursuant to the Public Records Law rests on the content of the record and not the circumstances of the requester. See Bougas v. Chief of Police of Lexington, 371 Mass. 59, 64 (1976). Accordingly, Mr. Brigham's purpose in making the request has no bearing on the public status of any existing responsive records. It should be noted that the discovery process and the Public Records Law are two distinct and independent avenues for gaining access to records. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has held that while a party's access to records may be limited by the Public Records Law, this may not preclude obtaining the records through discovery. Commonwealth v. Wanis, 426 Mass. 639 (1998). See also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1)(a) (the administrative appeal process "shall not apply to records in which an individual, or a representative of the individual, has a unique right of access to the record through statutory, regulatory, judicial or other applicable means"). As 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

Adelaida Jasperse SPRl 7/259 Page2 March 7, 2017 such, Mr. Brigham may wish to consider another means of seeking to obtain any existing responsive records for future appeals. Conclusion In a conversation with a staff member of the Public Records Division, I learned that the Department mailed the records that Mr. Brigham sought on March 3, 2017. Whereas the basis of this appeal was opened as the result of the Department's failure to provide responsive records, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, ~urr~~ Supervisor of Records cc: Attorney Frank Spillane Jesse Lee Brigham