Records redacted to protect privacy, probes

Elizabeth Ganga and Lee Higgins, The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News11:39 p.m. EST January 14, 2014


(Photo: Mel Evans, AP)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

  • Parts of documents related to Christie ad campaign blacked out
  • Privacy often-used exception to open records laws
  • Questions may linger about blacked-out information


WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- Government documents belong to the people.

But as has become clear in the scandals surrounding New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, governments often fight the release of documents to news organizations and the public, and when they do hand them over, they can have large blocks of text blacked out in the name of privacy, protecting investigations or myriad other exceptions to laws on disclosure.

Christie's latest difficulties came with the news that the Department of Housing and Urban Development's inspector general is auditing the process of awarding a tourism advertising contract paid for with federal Superstorm Sandy recovery funds. The ad campaign featuring Christie in television ads was not part of the lowest bid.

The Asbury Park (N.J.) Press reported Tuesday that it requested the score sheets from the committee that awarded the contract but the names of the members were blacked out, leaving it unclear who supported the contract award. Parts of the documents implicating Christie aides in the scandal over the politically motivated closure of lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge also were redacted, leaving lingering questions about who was involved.

Mark Fowler, a lawyer for The Journal News who has fought many Freedom of Information cases for the newspaper, said agencies often are making a good-faith effort to protect privacy or otherwise have good reasons for invoking the exceptions to open records laws. But they sometimes can be overly broad or have their own opinion of what constitutes privacy, an often-used exception.

RELATED: 'Bridgegate' scandal steals Christie's show
RELATED: New documents hide details about N.J.'s Sandy TV ads

"The courts will scrutinize those kinds of things and make sure those agencies aren't just blowing smoke," he said. People who think records are being wrongly withheld in New York can appeal within the agency but their final recourse is to file a lawsuit. But with the fuzzy standard of privacy, there's no clear way to know what a judge will decide is beyond the pale.

Certain information is exempt under the law, including Social Security numbers, some medical records and records on sexual assaults, said Robert Freeman, executive director of the New York Committee on Open Government. Other exceptions include some intra-agency communications and information that would interfere with an investigation or endanger life or safety.

In 2009, a state Supreme Court justice ordered the Bedford Central School District to remove some redactions to documents about the end of former Superintendent Debra Jackson's employment with the district and a controversial $650,000 separation agreement. The re-released records gave more insight into the reasons for her departure, including accusations of a deteriorating relationship with teachers.

Sometimes, reporters can only speculate whether the black marks are there more to avoid embarrassment than for any legitimate purpose.

"From the reporter's perspective, there's practically no way to know," Fowler said.

A Journal News request for legal fees the East Ramapo school district was billed for last year turned up pages of invoices. But though the cost of the work by the D'Agostino & Minerva law firm was clear, the description of "services rendered" over a three-month period was entirely blacked out. Descriptions of lawyers' travel also were kept private.

Westchester County police Sgt. Anthony Morizio, who heads the records division, which handles roughly 300 public records requests each year, said he turns to the county attorney's office for questions if he's unsure about a redaction.

Morizio handled a FOIL request more than a year ago by The Journal News, releasing more than 450 pages of records on Lawrence Bottone, aka "Dr. Hunter," who was serving prison time for assault after setting up a phony intelligence agency to torture minority men. There were few redactions, mostly limited to victims' street addresses, Social Security numbers and some details about the assaults.

Redactions were heavier in a 223-page transcript the Putnam County Sheriff's Office released under FOIL last year of a roughly five-hour interrogation of Thomas Sullivan Jr., the lone survivor of a fire that killed his parents and two sisters in May 2012 at their Carmel home. The fire was ruled an accident. The Sheriff's Office partly or fully redacted more than 100 pages. Information on Sullivan's parents' relationship with each other, his relationship with his father and some questions on whether the fire was an accident were blacked out.

Agencies have a legal obligation to sift records to "determine what's public and what's not," rather than flatly denying a FOIL request, Freeman said. Decisions about redactions are left to records access officers, he said, noting that every agency is required to designate one, but they are not obligated to receive training.

"In my experience, often the smaller the unit of government, the better it complies," Freeman said.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...robes/4485789/