Right-to-Know & Media Law Archives - Page 2 of 14

Addressing Frequent Issues under the Right-to-Know Law

On Wednesday, October 13, 2021, Nauman Smith continued our 150th Anniversary webinar series by hosting a free event aimed at “Addressing Frequent Issues under the Right-to-Know Law.” Nauman Smith partners, Craig Staudenmaier and Josh Bonn, were joined by Liz Wagenseller and Scott Coburn to present a variety of perspectives and experiences with this topic. The webinar attracted participation from local government officials from across the state… Read On

Craig Staudenmaier Named ‘Hero of the 50 States’

HARRISBURG, PA, October 1, 2021 – Nauman Smith partner, Craig Staudenmaier, has been inducted into the National Freedom of Information Coalition Open Government Hall of Fame as a ‘Hero of the 50 States.’ The National Freedom of Information Coalition is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that promotes press freedom, litigation, and legislative and administrative reforms that ensure open… Read On

Public Records: Avoiding the Insufficient Specificity Denial

Section 703 of the Right-to-Know Law (RTKL) requires a requester when submitting a written request for public records to an agency to “identify or describe the records sought with sufficient specificity to enable the agency to ascertain which records are being requested.” This language gave rise in the early years of the RTKL’s existence to denials lodged by agencies to requests because they were “insufficiently specific.” Challenges to these denials by requesters centered on the remedial nature of the RTKL… Read On

How Social Media Becomes A Public Record Under Right To Know Law

As public officials are increasing their use of social media, the boundaries of what is considered public and private on such accounts is being explored in the courts. For instance, the Court of Common Pleas of Monroe County, recently affirmed a decision of the Office of Open Records (OOR), which held that a Facebook page originally created by an individual while campaigning for borough council but later repurposed for official borough communications was a public record under the Right-to-Know Law… Read On

FERPA, the Right-to-Know Law and School Bus Videos

On April 22, the Commonwealth Court announced its decision involving a request by Fox 43 News for a school bus video from a local school district. The Court ultimately ordered that the video had to be released with certain redactions and that the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) did not prevent its release. The decision is significant because it was the first appellate decision to address the interplay between the privacy protections of FERPA and the public disclosure requirements of the RTKL after an earlier decision of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court addressing this issue… Read On

Rights to Public Information Under the Sunshine Act During COVID-19

Although the vaccination process for COVID-19 has begun in the United States and other countries, some have estimated that it could take until mid-summer for enough of the United States to be vaccinated to allow a greater return to normalcy. As such, many of the moves to remote business are likely to continue for a considerable time… Read On

Top Ten Most Significant RTKL (and Sunshine Act) Cases of 2020

Likely due to the COVID 19 pandemic, 2020 saw a large decline in the number of appellate decisions interpreting the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law (RTKL). Interestingly, the number of Sunshine Act cases increased, likely the result of Act 15 of 2020, which allowed political subdivisions to hold public meetings remotely. The biggest case of the year saw the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections walloped with a huge $118,000 plus attorney fee sanction for failing to conduct a good faith search for public records… Read On

Nauman Smith secures public records victory for news media client seeking tax revenues generated in the Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone

The Commonwealth Court has issued an order and opinion affirming that total tax revenues generated by certain taxes levied in the Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone (“NIZ”) are public records. This will allow the public to discern which taxes have had the most impact on the revitalization of Allentown’s downtown. State and local taxes collected from the NIZ are used to repay debt service and bonds issued by the Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone Development Authority to fund various economic development projects within the zone… Read On

What Does the Affirmance by the Supreme Court of an Award of Attorney Fees Exceeding $118,000 Under the Right to Know Law Mean to the Average Requester?

In December, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed an award of over $118,000 in legal fees under the Right-to-Know Law to Uniontown Newspapers, Inc., publisher of the Herald Standard, Uniontown’s home newspaper. This decision was the culmination of a request for records first submitted in September 2014 and a six-year battle by the paper to obtain public records from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) concerning incidents of cancer and respiratory illnesses of inmates and employees at SCI-Fayette. … Read On

Accessing Public Records in Pennsylvania During the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has decreased government transparency in Pennsylvania. After Governor Wolf declared a statewide disaster declaration in March 2020, many agencies suspended processing of Right-to-Know Law (RTKL) requests. In response, the General Assembly unanimously passed Act 77 of 2020 to ensure Commonwealth agencies continue to timely process RTKL requests. The Office of Open Records (OOR) has issued guidelines governing responses by Commonwealth agencies RTKL requests for the remainder of the disaster emergency… Read On

Supreme Court Decides Interplay Between Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the Right-to-Know Law With Respect to School Bus Video—Sort Of

The definition of “record” set forth in Section 102 of the Right-to-Know Law (RTKL) makes it clear that a record, and thus, a public record may exist in many forms, including video recordings. Such a record was at the center of a recent Supreme Court decision, Easton Area School District v. Miller and The Express Times… Read On

Requester May Not Appeal Denial of Access to Public Records Under Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law Before Paying Copying Fees Incurred by Agency to Perform Secure Redactions

People often ask what fees a government agency in Pennsylvania may charge for access to public records. The Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law (RTKL) allows requesters to avoid copying fees by asking to inspect records in person or to obtain records in electronic format. An issue arises, however, when an agency must redact non-public information from a public record… Read On