Margaret Alleyne v. Massachusetts Parole Board (SPR 20211621)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records July 15, 2021 SPR21/1621 Stacy D. Book Records Access Officer Massachusetts Parole Board 12 Mercer Road Natick, MA 01760 Dear Ms. Book: I have received the petition of Margaret Alleyne appealing the response of the Massachusetts Parole Board (Board) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On June 5, 2021, Ms. Alleyne requested a copy of the following records pertaining to the number of parolees that: had their parole revoked and/or provisionally revoked by the team at the Region 4 Office, Worcester, MA; broken down by their race; starting from February 2018 thru May [5], 2021. This should only include parolees released from the Massachusetts Department of Corrections; should not include any data such as their name, the nature of their crime nor the reasons for the revocation. f) Please count each Parolee once if possible. Prior appeal This request was the subject of a prior appeal. See SPR21/1551 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) (June 28, 2021). Where, the prior appeal was opened due to a nonresponse by the Board, I closed SPR21/1551 after the Board provided a June 14, 2021 response. 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). 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

Stacy Book SPR21/1621 Page 2 July 15, 2021 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 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). If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. The Board’s June 14, 2021 response – Current appeal Due to the Board’s June 14th response, Ms. Alleyne petitioned the Supervisor again on June 30th, and the current appeal was opened. In her petition, Ms. Alleyne asserts, “[w]hat I wanted was the number of parolees that had their parole provisionally revoked and the number of parolees that had their parole revoked from the Region 4 office between the dates I specified in my original request. Clearly if someone had their parole revoked, they must have had it provisionally revoked. This is why I asked for both. All the parolees that had their parole revoked broken down by race and all the parolees that had their parole provisionally revoked broken down by race.” It is unclear whether the Board has records or information in its possession pertaining to the clarification of Ms. Alleyne’s request as described in her June 30th petition to the Supervisor. The Board must clarify whether it has additional records or information. Conclusion Accordingly, the Board is ordered to provide Ms. Alleyne with a response to the request, 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: Margaret Alleyne