Stevan Johnson v. Boston, City of - Public Records (SPR 20200151)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records February 3, 2020 SPR20/0151 Shawn A. Williams, Esq. City of Boston, Public Records 1 City Hall Plaza, Room 615 Boston, MA 02201 Dear Attorney Williams: I have received the petition of Stevan Johnson appealing the nonresponse of the City of Boston Police Department (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Stevan Johnson requested a copy ofrecords pertaining to the "human labor trafficking conspiracy" including documents relating to a certain docket in a civil action case. 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, § lOA(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(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). It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b )(iv); (written response must "identify any records, categories of records or portions of records that the agency or municipality intends to withhold and provide the specific reasons for such withholding, including the specific exemption or exemptions upon which the withholding is based ... "); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (c ustodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). · The City's January 3JS1 response In its January 31, 2019 response, the City denied Mr. Johnson's request citing a protective order issued by the United States District Court of Massachusetts. 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

Shawn A. Williams, Esq. SPR20/0106 Page 2 February 3, 2020 Burden ofs pecificity in claiming exemptions Under the Public Records Law, the burden shall be upon the records custodian to prove with specificity the exemption which applies. G. L. c.66, § lO(b)(iv); (written response must "identify any records, categories of records or portions of records that the agency or municipality intends to withhold and provide the specific reasons for such withholding, including the specific exemption or exemptions upon which the withholding is based ... ") see also Globe Newspaper Co. v. Police Comm 'r, 419 Mass. 852, 857 (1995); Flatley, 419 Mass. at 511. See also Reinstein v. Police Comm'r of Boston, 378 Mass. 281, 289-90 (1979) (the statutory exemptions are narrowly construed and are not blanket in nature). The City's response did not contain the specificity required. Instead, the City simply denied the release ofresponsive records without claiming any exemption(s) in the Public Records Law to support the withholding of responsive documents. Accordingly, I find that the City has not established how it can withhold the record(s) at issue in this appeal. Consequently, I its find the City did not meet burden to withhold the records. See G. L. c. 66, § IO(d)(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3)(c)(4). Co11clusio11 Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Mr. Johnson with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations within 10 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. Sincerely, ~~ Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Stevan Johnson