Bowler v. State of Maine

CourtSuperior Court of Maine
DecidedApril 24, 2014
DocketKENap-13-40
StatusUnpublished

This text of Bowler v. State of Maine (Bowler v. State of Maine) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bowler v. State of Maine, (Me. Super. Ct. 2014).

Opinion

£ 1\1 I f Rf D NOV 2· n 2014

STATE OF MAINE SUPERIOR COURT KENNEBEC, ss DOCKET NO. AP-13-40 ILU1--~~-0/l- V11 '"l. b I V1 PHILIP BOWLER, SR., Plaintiff/Appellant,

v. ORDER

STATE OF MAINE, Defendant/Appellee.

Before the Court is Philip Bowler's appeal from the denial by the Office of the Attorney

General of Bowler's request to obtain access to investigative materials pertaining to the death of

Sally Moran. Plaintiff argues that he is entitled to the records pursuant to Maine's Freedom of

Access Act, 1 M.R.S.A. § 400 et seq. and because P.L. 1993, ch. 719, § 11 is unconstitutional.

FACTUALANDPROCEDURALBACKGROUND

On September 16, 2013, Mr. Bowler made a request pursuant to the Maine Freedom of

Access Act to examine the investigative materials in the possession ofthe Attorney General's

Office pertaining to Sally Moran, who disappeared from Monhegan Island on July 9, 1953 and

whose body was later found near Portland Headlight on July 30, 1953. (Br. ofResp. 1.) The

Attorney General's Office located the investigative records requested by Mr. Bowler, however,

on September 19, 2013, based on P.L. 1993, ch. 719, § 11, denied Mr. Bowler's request. On

September 26,2013, he filed an appeal ofthe Office of the Attorney General's September 19,

2013 decision, pursuant to 1 M.R.S.A. § 409(1). The parties conferred telephonically with the

Court and agreed to a stipulation of facts as laid out in the parties' pleadings, in lieu of a trial.

The Court has reviewed in camera the documents at issue, considered the oral arguments of the

1 parties, as well as their written submissions (the last of which was received on March 27, 2014)

and issues the following order.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

On appeal, a party aggrieved by a Freedom of Access Act denial is entitled to de novo

review in the Superior Court. 1 M.R.S.A. § 409(1). Thus, the Court eschews the ordinary SOC

standard of review contained in the Administrative Procedure Act. Maine Today Media, Inc. v.

State, 2013 WL 1495310 (Me. Super. Mar. 6, 2013), rev 'don other grounds, 2013 ME 100, 82

A.3d 104. On such an appeal the burden of establishing just cause for the denial of the request

falls upon the municipality or governmental agency seeking to withhold the document or

documents in question. Maine Today Media, Inc. v. City of Portland, 2013 WL 4516548, at *1

(Me. Super. June 24, 2013) (citing Town of Burlington v. Hospital Admin. District No. 1, 2001

ME 59 'j!13, 769 A.2d 857).

With respect to the second claim made by the Plaintiff, that the statute (P.L. 1993, Ch.

719) in question is unconstitutional, he bears the burden to overcome the presumption that the

law is constitutional. Godbout v. WLB Holding, Inc., 2010 ME 46 'j!5.

Whether there is just cause for the State to withhold the documents

Pursuant to section 408-A of the Maine Freedom of Access Act, any "person has the right

to inspect and copy any public record in accordance with this section within a reasonable time of

making the request to inspect or copy the public record." 1 M.R.S. § 408-A. Section 402 of the

Act defines the term "public records" as "any written, printed or graphic matter or any

mechanical or electronic data compilation ... that is in the possession or custody of an agency or

public official of this State or any of its political subdivisions, ... and has been received or

2 prepared for use in connection with the transaction of public or governmental business or

contains information relating to the transaction of public or governmental business," but it

specifically excludes "[r]ecords that have been designated confidential by statute." 1 M.R.S.A. §

402.

Prior to 1995, Maine law, specifically 5 M.R.S.A. § 200-D, provided that

"[n]otwithstanding any other provisions oflaw, all ... investigative records ofthe Department of

the Attorney General shall be and are declared to be confidential." (Br. ofResp. Ex. B.)

However, in 1995, 1 5 M.R.S.A. § 200-D was repealed by P.L. 1993, ch. 719, which in relevant

part provides as follows:

Reports or records that contain intelligence and investigative information and that are prepared by, prepared at the direction of or kept in the custody of . . . the Department of the Attorney General are confidential and may not be disseminated if there is a reasonable possibility that public release or inspection of the reports or records would: A. Interfere with law enforcement proceedings; B. Result in public dissemination of prejudicial information concerning an accused person or concerning the prosecution's evidence that will interfere with the ability of a court to impanel an impartial jury; C. Constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy; D. Disclose the identity of a confidential source ...

P.L. 1993, ch. 719 § 7?

In other words, investigative records of the Department of the Attorney General became

"public records" unless they fell into one of the categories enumerated in P .L. 1993, ch. 719 § 7.

Additionally, section 11 ofP.L. 1993, ch. 719, specifically provided that "[r]eports and records

that were created prior to the effective date of this Act that were confidential pursuant to the

Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, section 200-D at the time of their creation continue to be

1 Chapter 719 of the public law of 1993 was introduced in 1993, but became effective on July 1, 1995. 2 There are seven additional grounds that require keeping the Department ofthe Attorney General's reports and records confidential, however, they are irrelevant to the facts of this case because they protect confidentiality of: trade secrets, mediations and arbitrations, consumer and antitrust complaints.

3 confidential after the effective date of this Act as provided in the former Title 5, section 200-D."

P.L. 1993, ch. 719 § 11.

In Dunn & Theobald, Inc. v. Cohen, the Law Court was presented with the question of

whether under the Maine Freedom of Access Act, citizens have a right to inspect and copy

investigative records of the Attorney General created prior to the enactment of Title 5, section

200-D. 402 A.2d 603 (Me. 1979). The Law Court held that the purpose of Title 5, section 200-D

was "to accord protection against disclosure of continuing sources of information and against

unfair injury to the reputations of third persons" and that these protections afforded by Title 5,

section 200-D "would be achieved only by applying [this section] to All investigative records,

including those that were in the custody or possession of the Attorney General on April 1, 197 6."

!d. at 605. Thus, according to Dunn, the protection of 5 M.R.S.A. § 200-D extended not only to

the Attorney General's records created pursuant to the statute, but also to records that were

already in the custody and possession of the Attorney General on April 1, 1976, such as records

sought by Mr. Bowler, which were created in 1953.

Because the State has the burden to just cause for withholding the documents, the State

has to establish that the records he is seeking are not public records (as defined by 1 M.R.S.A.

§402) but are confidential by statute. The statutes at issue in this case are P.L. 1993, ch. 719 § 7

andP.L. 1993, ch. 719 § 11.

The records Mr. Bowler requested from the Attorney General are "written" documents

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Related

Brann v. State
424 A.2d 699 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1981)
Godbout v. WLB HOLDING, INC.
2010 ME 46 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2010)
Aseptic Packaging Council v. State
637 A.2d 457 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1994)
Friends of Lincoln Lakes v. Board of Environmental Protection
2010 ME 18 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2010)
Walker v. Yucht
352 F. Supp. 85 (D. Delaware, 1972)
Town of Burlington v. Hospital Administrative District No. 1
2001 ME 59 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2001)
MaineToday Media, Inc. v. State of Maine
2013 ME 100 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2013)
Dunn & Theobald, Inc. v. Cohen
402 A.2d 603 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1979)
Van Dyke v. Wilkinson
25 F.2d 763 (E.D. Wisconsin, 1928)

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