Stevan Johnson v. Boston, City of - Public Records (SPR 20220028)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records January 19, 2022 SPR22/0028 Shawn A. Williams, Esq. Records Access Officer City of Boston 1 City Hall Plaza Boston, MA 02201 Dear Attorney Williams: I have received the petition of Stevan Johnson appealing the response of the City of Boston (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On December 22, 2021, Mr. Johnson requested, “…[a] copy of [an identified incident report number,] [a] copy of the initial ‘written decision’ rendered for [an identified complaint number,]…[a] copy of the notice of the hearing scheduled for [the identified complaint number, and a] copy of [an identified document.]” Previous Appeal The records sought by Mr. Johnson are the subject of a previous appeal. See SPR21/3334 Supervisor of Records Determination (December 28, 2021). There, the City indicated that it would be providing a supplemental response despite having already released the records sought by Mr. Johnson. The City provided its supplemental response on January 3, 2022. Unsatisfied with the supplemental response, Mr. Johnson petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR22/0028, was opened as a result. 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); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. 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 Williams, Esq. SPR22/0028 Page 2 January 19, 2022 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. The City’s January 3rd Response On January 3, 2022, the City stated, “a response to this request was previously provided.” Current Appeal On January 5, 2022, Mr. Johnson stated, “[The City] again falsely repeated that a response was previously provided to [my current records request].” The City emailed a staff attorney in the Public Records Division stating that it believes the request at issue in this appeal is a “duplicate of SPR21/3334.” The City also indicated that it provided the records sought by Mr. Johnson for each of his requests. In light of the above, I find it is unclear what the basis of Mr. Johnson’s appeal is. Mr. Johnson is advised that all petitions for appeal “shall specifically describe the nature of the requestor’s objections to the response or failure to timely respond.” 950 C.M.R. 32.08(l)(f).” Please be aware that the request must reasonably describe the records sought. G. L. c. 66, § 10(a)(i). Mr. Johnson may wish to clarify this matter and his objections to the City’s response. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Shawn A. Williams, Esq.