Freedom of Information

ELEVENTH CIRCUIT--The split between federal circuit courts over the validity of the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act widened in early April when the U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta (11th Cir.) struck down the law as unconstitutional. The Fourth Circuit struck down the DPPA in September 1998, but two other circuits, the Seventh and Tenth, held that the law passed constitutional muster.

NEW YORK--The state high court ruled unanimously in early April that potentially embarrassing police disciplinary records are exempt from disclosure under state open records law.

The Court of Appeals, sitting in Albany, overturned a lower court decision ordering the release of names of Schenectady police officers who were disciplined for throwing eggs at a car during an officer's bachelor party.

MICHIGAN--In late March, the state Court of Appeals in Lansing, a mid-level appellate court, unanimously held that the Troy Times could recover reasonable costs and attorney's fees from the City of Troy after it failed to respond to a request for documents under Michigan's Freedom of Information Act.

THIRD CIRCUIT--A federal appeals court in Philadelphia ruled in mid-March that prior sex offenders have no constitutional right of privacy in their home addresses and compilations of other personal, biographical information which are collected by police and must be made available to the community under the New Jersey Megan's Law.

LOUISIANA--Mug shots of a prominent businessman taken by the U.S. Marshals Service are not public records under the federal Freedom of Information Act, a federal trial judge in New Orleans ruled in early March. Disclosure of the photograph would constitute an unwarranted invasion of San Francisco Forty-Niners owner Edward J. DeBartolo Jr.'s personal privacy, the court held.

NEW JERSEY--Just because records are public does not guarantee public access, two news organizations concluded after surveying New Jersey's government agencies' compliance with state records law.

The Press of Atlantic City released the results of its survey in late March. Three days later a second survey was released by a group of seven New Jersey newspapers owned by Gannett Co. Inc.

VIRGINIA--A package of legislation updating Virginia's Freedom of Information Act was signed by Gov. Jim Gilmore in late March and will take effect July 1, 1999.

Among other changes, the legislation requires that all public records and meetings are presumed open unless an exemption is properly invoked. The legislation broadly defines "public records" and expressly extends coverage to electronic records.

COLORADO--Records of sexual harassment claims against a Commerce City policeman are not protected by the personnel records exemption to the Colorado open records statute, a Court of Appeals in Denver, Colo., ruled in mid-February.

MISSOURI--Prison videotapes of a state representative's booking on criminal charges are not public records, a Missouri appellate court in Springfield held in early March.

Although Missouri's records law applies to both written and electronic records, the tapes were not public records because they were routinely destroyed, the court wrote. The definition of "public record" requires something that is retained, it noted.

KENTUCKY--Two state laws restricting access to otherwise-public accident reports violated the First Amendment, a federal appellate court in Cincinnati held in mid-February. The appellate panel upheld a trial court decision striking down two statutes aimed at preventing attorneys and chiropractors from using public records to solicit new clients.