News from 2012

Supreme Court directs Commonwealth Court to decide school teacher’s home address case

The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday, August 22, 2012, that a case brought by the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) to prevent the Office of Open Records (OOR) from ordering school districts to release the home addresses of public school employees be remanded to the Commonwealth Court. Pennslyvania State Eduation Association v. Com., Dep’t of Comm… Read On

OOR Lacks Jurisdiction to Compel Disclosure of Records Related to Pending Litigation

The Commonwealth Court has reversed decisions by the Office of Open Records (OOR) and the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County which ordered the City of Pittsburgh (City) to disclose correspondence of settlement negotiations between city officials and a decedent’s estate. City of Pittsburgh v. Silver, — A.3d —-, 1658 C.D. 2011 (Pa.Cmwlth… Read On

Insufficiently Specific Request for Emails Denied where County Unable to Perform Keyword Search of Archived Emails

The Commonwealth Court has affirmed the denial of a request for county emails because the requester failed to sufficiently articulate what emails he wanted to obtain. In Montgomery County v. Iverson, — A.3d —-, 1071 C.D. 2011 (Pa.Cmwlth. 8/15/12), the requester submitted a request for emails in the County’s possession. The requester asked the County to produce all emails to and from specific internet domains which contained one of fourteen keywords… Read On

Commonwealth Court Refuses to Find Sunshine Act Violation

On July 31, 2012, a panel of the Commonwealth Court in an opinion authored by Judge Leavitt affirmed a decision of the Berks County Court of Common Pleas denying a request for a declaratory judgment that a Board of Supervisors had violated the Sunshine Act.  Smith v. Township of Richmond et al., No… Read On

Commonwealth Court Reverses Decision of OOR and Orders the Release of Information Regarding Labor Union Disputes

It is not often that the Commonwealth Court reverses the Office of Open Records (“OOR”) and orders the release of records which the OOR found not to be public.  Such a situation occurred in the recent decision of a panel of the Commonwealth Court in Johnson v. Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority, No. 1844 C.D… Read On

Commonwealth Court Orders DEP to Release Section 208 Determination Letters

As Marcellus Shale continues to occupy the hearts and minds of Pennsylvania citizens, Right-to-Know issues concerning Commonwealth agencies regulating it continue. On July 31, 2012, a panel of the Commonwealth Court in an opinion authored by Judge Anne E. Covey affirmed a final determination of the Office of Open Records (“OOR”) ordering DEP to search for and to release DEP Section 208 determination letters issued since January 1… Read On