S Waites v. Boston Public Health Commission (SPR 20202116)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records November 16, 2020 SPR20/2116 Batool Raza, Esq. Assistant General Counsel Boston Public Health Commission 1010 Massachusetts Avenue, 6th Floor Boston, MA 02118 Dear Attorney Raza: I have received the petition of S. Waites appealing the response of the Boston Public Health Commission (Commission) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, S. Waites requested: “…all Computer-aided Dispatch Transcripts (CADs); Calls for Service Reports; all incident reports; all bills; all police reports; all audio files for 911 calls; all log book entries; all documents, and all 911 documents pertaining to [an identified address] from January 1, 2000 to the present.” In an October 27, 2020 response, the Commission denied the requests, in their entirety, under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), as it operates through Exemption (a), as well as Exemption (c) of the Public Records Law. In addition, the Commission asserts, “…the Commission will not release the records you have requested unless you can furnish a valid patient authorization form or a court order.” As a result of the October 27th response, S. Waites petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor), and this appeal 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, § 10A(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, § 10(b)(iv) (written response must “identify any records, categories of records or portions of records that the agency or municipality intends 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

Batool Raza, Esq. SPR20/2116 Page 2 November 16, 2020 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) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). Conclusion In response to this appeal, the Commission provided a further response dated November 6, 2020. Accordingly, I will consider this appeal closed. S. Waite may appeal the substantive nature of the November 6th response within 90 calendar days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: S. Waites