Beth Healy v. Springfield, City of - Office of the City Clerk (SPR 20220584)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records March 24, 2022 SPR22/0584 Stephen Roche, Esq. City of Springfield 36 Court Street Springfield, MA 01103 Dear Attorney Roche: I have received the petition of Beth Healy, of WBUR, appealing the response of the City of Springfield (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On February 28, 2022, Ms. Healy requested: A spreadsheet, database or text file containing a list of victims in all unsolved murders or open homicide cases currently with your office. Please include the name of the deceased victim, date of birth, date of death, victim’s residence address, city of death, manner or cause of death, and race/ethnicity of the victim. The City provided a response on March 8, 2022, denying access to the responsive records pursuant to Exemption (f) of the Public Records Law. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(f). Unsatisfied with the City’s response, Ms. Healy petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR22/0584, 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 agency or municipality 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. 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 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

Stephen Roche, Esq. SPR22/0584 Page 2 March 24, 2022 must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. 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 City’s March 8th response In its March 8, 2022 response, the City states “[a]fter the SPD careful review of this request, we are unable to provide any information regarding victims of ‘all unsolved murders or open homicide cases’ due to the fact that these are active investigations that are ongoing. Any information provided may compromise efforts by the Springfield Police Department in solving these crimes. Therefore, The City must deny your request because it believes that the requested records are exempt from disclosure as public records pursuant to also known as the ‘Investigatory Exemption (f)’ . . .” Exemption (f) Exemption (f) permits the withholding of: investigatory materials necessarily compiled out of the public view by law enforcement or other investigatory officials the disclosure of which materials would probably so prejudice the possibility of effective law enforcement that such disclosure would not be in the public interest G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(f). A custodian of records generally must demonstrate a prejudice to investigative efforts in order to withhold requested records. Information relating to an ongoing investigation may be withheld if disclosure could alert suspects to the activities of investigative officials. Confidential investigative techniques may also be withheld indefinitely if disclosure is deemed to be prejudicial to future law enforcement activities. Bougas v. Chief of Police of Lexington, 371 Mass 59, 62 (1976). Redactions may be appropriate where they serve to preserve the anonymity of voluntary witnesses. Antell v. Att’y Gen., 52 Mass. App. Ct. 244, 248 (2001); Reinstein v. Police Comm’r of Boston, 378 Mass. 281, 290 n.18 (1979). Exemption (f) invites a “case-by- case consideration” of whether disclosure “would probably so prejudice the possibility of effective law enforcement that such disclosure would not be in the public interest.” See Reinstein, 378 Mass. at 289-90. The City’s response did not contain the specificity required in a denial of access to public records. Although the City claims that the data pertains to “. . . active investigations that are ongoing[,]” it is unclear how the requested data constitutes investigatory materials. Also, although the City contends that “[a]ny information provided may compromise efforts by the

Stephen Roche, Esq. SPR22/0584 Page 3 March 24, 2022 Springfield Police Department in solving these crimes[,]” the City did not provide any supporting information to demonstrate how disclosure of the responsive records would “probably so prejudice the possibility of effective law enforcement that such disclosure would not be in the public interest” as required to withhold records under Exemption (f).” It is additionally uncertain how the records can be withheld in their entirety. See Reinstein, 378 Mass. at 289-90 (the statutory exemptions are narrowly construed and are not blanket in nature). Any non-exempt, segregable portion of a public record is subject to mandatory disclosure. G. L. c. 66, § 10(a). The City must clarify these matters. Conclusion Accordingly, the City is ordered to provide Ms. Healy with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (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: Beth Healy