Heather Stevenson v. Department of Public Health (SPR 20220465)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records March 11, 2022 SPR22/0465 Helen Rush-Lloyd Records Access Officer Department of Public Health 250 Washington Street Boston, MA 02108 Dear Ms. Rush-Lloyd: I have received the petition of Heather Stevenson, Esq., on behalf of Deirdre Fernandes, both of the Boston Globe, appealing the response of the Department of Public Health (Department/DPH) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On February 8, 2022, Ms. Fernandes requested the database for “. . . births in 2019 for residences of Saugus, with the date of birth, name of the mother, address, gender of child, where they were born, age of mother, race of mother.” The Department provided a response on February 23, 2022, denying access to the responsive records pursuant to Exemptions (a) and (c) of the Public Records Law. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(a), (c). Unsatisfied with the Department’s response, Attorney Stevenson, petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR22/0465, was opened as a result. It is my understanding that the Department provided a supplemental response on March 11, 2022. Accordingly, I will consider this administrative appeal closed. Attorney Stevenson may appeal the substantive nature of the Department’s March 11th response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Heather Stevenson 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