Donald S. Graham v. Department of Correction - MCI Shirley (SPR 20170488)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords Aprill9, 2017 SPR17/488 Elizabeth I. Kingman Records Manager MCI-Shirley Department of Correction P.O. Box 1218 Shirley, MA 01464 Dear Ms. Kingman: I have received the petition of DonaldS. Graham appealing the response of the Department of Correction-MCI Shirley (Department) to a March 18, 2017 request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Graham requested copies of all '"Notices of Rejection' generated to the individual publishers" for a list of specified publications. In a response dated March 31, 2017, you provided Mr. Graham with copies of '"disapproved correspondence/publication and contraband notices' which were forwarded to you as a subscriber of the publications in question." Mr. Graham took issue with this response and petitioned this office. As a result this appeal, SPR 17/488, was opened. 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). Current appeal In his appeal petition Mr. Graham notes that he specifically requested the Notices of Rejection "generated to the individual publishers," and that instead he received copies of the Notices of Rejection that were forwarded to himself as the subscriber. It is Mr. Graham's position that other responsive records exist that have not been provided to him, and that the Notices of Rejection sent to publishers are different records than those provided to subscribers. 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

Elizabeth I. Kingham SPR17/488 Page 2 April19, 2017 In an April 19th telephone conversation with a member of the Public Records Division staff, you explained that the Notices of Rejection that are generated and provided to both subscriber and publisher are exactly the same, and that one copy is provided to the subscriber and another to the publisher. Therefore, Mr. Graham has been provided with all existing responsive records. Nonetheless, you agreed to provide Mr. Graham with a supplemental response further explaining the Department's March 31st response. Conclusion Therefore, whereas this matter was opened based upon the Department's March 31st response, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed with the proviso that a supplemental response is provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (1 0) business days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Mr. Graham may appeal the substantive nature of this response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Sincerely, ~~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Donald S. Graham