Benjamin Berke v. Stoughton, Town of (SPR 20201456)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records September 2, 2020 SPR20/1456 Stephanie Carrara Interim Town Clerk Town of Stoughton 10 Pearl Street Stoughton, MA 02072 Dear Ms. Carrara: I have received the petition of Benjamin Berke appealing the response of the Town of Stoughton (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Berke requested: 1. “A copy of a subpoena sent to the Town of Stoughton seeking records in the matter of McGowan v. McNulty, a civil lawsuit in the Norfolk Superior Court. 2. Copies of all records the Town of Stoughton produced to comply with the subpoena.” Prior Appeal This request has been the subject of a previous appeal. See SPR20/1442 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (August 24, 2020). I closed my August 24th determination on the understanding that the Town had provided a response to Mr. Berke, and informed him that he may appeal the substantive nature of the Town’s response. Unsatisfied with the Town’s response, Mr. Berke petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR20/1456, was opened as a result. Current Appeal In his appeal petition, Mr. Berke indicates that the Town’s response satisfied the first of his requests, but the Town has not produced records responsive to the second request. Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Mr. Berke with a response to the remaining request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten 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. 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

Stephanie Carrara SPR20/1456 Page 2 September 2, 2020 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Benjamin Berke