FOIA Denial Letters: Don’t Forget to Include Citations and Reasons for Denial!
In Blanco
v. Joliet Police Department, after Blanco was arrested by the Joliet Police
Department, he sent a FOIA
request to the PD asking for any documents and recordings related to his
arrest. The PD denied his request under the Juvenile Court
Act, and Blanco sued.
Blanco claimed that the PD failed to cite a FOIA exemption and did not prove that the requested records
were exempt. He sought the release of the records and a civil
penalty of up to $5,000. In response, the PD argued that the Juvenile Court Act applied because Blanco was with two minors at the time of his
arrest. The PD also stated that the records contained exempt
personal information under 7(1)(c) and 7(1)(d)(iv) of FOIA. The PD further cited 7(1)(a) which prevents disclosure of information prohibited by
law and 7(1)(bb), which prevents disclosure of information prohibited by the
Juvenile Court Act. The Circuit Court agreed with the PD and
dismissed the case.
Blanco appealed, arguing: 1)
the PD failed to comply with FOIA’s requirement that the denial letter
include a specific exemption claimed and a detailed factual basis and citation,
2) the PD should have been fined a civil penalty for failing to
disclose the requested documents, and 3) the Juvenile Court Act does not
prohibit the disclosure of these documents.
The Court acknowledged that the PD’s denial letter
raised questions of whether it complied with FOIA by specifying the exemption
and specific reason for the denial. However, the Court noted that even
assuming that the denial letter did not comply with FOIA, it is not automatic
that the requester would be entitled to have the documents released to
him. The Court found that without the record or transcripts on
appeal (Blanco failed to provide those to the Appellate Court), it had no way of knowing what happened in the circuit court, so it upheld the Circuit Court's ruling in favor of the PD.
While the PD was able to get out of possible
penalties because of Blanco's procedural deficiencies, this case is a reminder to public bodies of the importance of
including the citation for the applicable exemption and detailed factual reasons why it denied the request (whether in whole or in part) when it issues the written denial letter.
Post Authored by Erin Pell, Ancel Glink
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