William Nadworny v. Massachusetts Parole Board (SPR 20200192)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords February 14, 2020 SPR20/0192 Charles Walsh, Esq. Legal Counsel Massachusetts Parole Board 12 Mercer Road Natick, MA 01760 Dear Attorney Walsh: I have received the petition of William Nadworny appealing.the response of the Massachusetts Parole Board (Board) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; also 50 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Nadworny requested: "all individual 'vote sheets' of the six Parole Board Members ... that voted between May 20, 2015 and June 30, 2015 in executive session in deciding to deny or grant the parole of' the requestor. Tlte 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, § lO(b)(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507,511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. Current Appeal In its December 24th response, the Board states that it "does not release Parole Board Vote Sheets" and instead provided the Record of Decision from the requestor' s May 12, 2015 hearing. 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

Charles Walsh, Esq. SPR20/0192 Page 2 February 14, 2020 It is my understanding that a Public Records Division staff attorney discussed this appeal with you, and that you intend to provide a supplemental response addressing the concerns raised in the appeal. Conclusion Accordingly, the Board is ordered to provide a response to Mr. Nadworny in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations within ten (10) business days. A copy of this 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: William Nadworny Stacy Book