Legal Aid Society v. New York State Department of Correctional Services

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York

Legal Aid Society v. New York State Department of Correctional Services

88 A.D.3d 793, 930 N.Y.2d 887

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York·Decided October 11, 2011·Published

Opinion

The petitioner sought disclosure under the Freedom of Information Law (Eublic Officers Law § 84 et seq.; hereinafter FOIL) of certain medical records. Though the appellants agreed to disclose the records, they did so under Eublic Health Law § 18, [794] imposing a copying fee of 50 cents per page. The petitioner objected on the ground that it made a FOIL request, subject to a copying fee of only 25 cents per page, rather than a request pursuant to the Public Health Law. The petitioner commenced this proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78, and the Supreme Court determined that the petitioner had made a proper FOIL request for which a fee of only 25 cents per page should have been imposed. We agree.

“FOIL imposes a broad standard of open disclosure upon agencies of the government [and] [documents in the possession of public agencies are presumptively discoverable under FOIL, unless the agency can point to a specific statutory exemption” (Matter of Mantica v New York State Dept. of Health, 94 NY2d 58, 61 [1999] [citations omitted]). Here, there is no such statutory exemption. The fact that an individual “could obtain his records . . . pursuant to section 18 [of the Public Health Law] does not diminish his right to obtain them under FOIL” (id. at 63; but see Matter of Pratt v Goord, 20 AD3d 827, 827-828 [2005]).

The appellants’ remaining contentions are without merit. Rivera, J.E, Balkin, Hall and Cohen, JJ., concur.

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The petitioner sought disclosure under the Freedom of Information Law (Eublic Officers Law § 84 et seq.; hereinafter FOIL) of certain medical records. Though the appellants agreed to disclose the records, they did so under Eublic Health Law § 18, [794] imposing a copying fee of 50 cents per page. The petitioner objected on the ground that it made a FOIL request, subject to a copying fee of only 25 cents per page, rather than a request pursuant to the Public Health Law. The petitioner commenced this proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78, and the Supreme Court determined that the petitioner had made a proper FOIL request for which a fee of only 25 cents per page should have been imposed. We agree.

“FOIL imposes a broad standard of open disclosure upon agencies of the government [and] [documents in the possession of public agencies are presumptively discoverable under FOIL, unless the agency can point to a specific statutory exemption” (Matter of Mantica v New York State Dept. of Health, 94 NY2d 58, 61 [1999] [citations omitted]). Here, there is no such statutory exemption. The fact that an individual “could obtain his records . . . pursuant to section 18 [of the Public Health Law] does not diminish his right to obtain them under FOIL” (id. at 63; but see Matter of Pratt v Goord, 20 AD3d 827, 827-828 [2005]).

The appellants’ remaining contentions are without merit. Rivera, J.E, Balkin, Hall and Cohen, JJ., concur.

Legal Aid Society v. New York State Department of Correctional Services, 88 A.D.3d 793, 930 N.Y.2d 887 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2011).

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88 A.D.3d 793 (Legal Aid Society v. New York State Department of Correctional Services) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Opinion

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