Category Archives: Open Records Act

Litgation Hold – Too Little Too Late.

25 Thursday Feb 2016

Posted by in Cell Phones, Discovery, E-Discovery, Emails, Emails, Legal Technology, Litigation Hold, Municipal Law, Open Records Act, Preservation, Requests for Production, Sanctions

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Our Nation’s Largest City is Not Immune to eDiscovery Sanctions: eDiscovery Case Law, by Doug Law, eDiscovery daily Blog

http://bit.ly/1Rqmnc0

In Stinson v. City of New York, 10 Civ. 4228 (RWS) (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 2, 2016), New York District Judge Robert W. Sweet granted in part and denied in part the plaintiffs’ motion seeking sanctions for spoliation of evidence against the defendants for failure to issue a litigation hold, opting for a permissive inference rather than a mandatory adverse inference sanction against the defendants .

Case Background

In this civil rights class action against the City of New York, it was determined that the City did not issue any litigation hold until August 8, 2013, more than three years after the filing of the Complaint in this case and the litigation hold was not effectively communicated, and none of the officers who were named in the City’s initial disclosures acknowledged receiving it. . . .

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Rhode Island Opens Records Law Not So Open.

28 Sunday Sep 2014

Posted by in Criminal Law, First Amendment, Government, Open Records Act

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Criminal Records Search and Background Checks, from Criminal.Com

http://www.criminal.com/revised-open-records-law-not-always-enforced-in-rhode-island/

A report released by Access/RI shows that in the two years since Rhode Island changed its open records law, enforcement of the law has been less than stellar.

Access/RI isan alliance of First Amendment advocates and MuckRock, a group that works with journalists to secure and analyze public records. They show execution of the updated rules is extremely rare. The report states what is really happening isdifferent than what policy makers had hoped would transpire when legislation went through.

When Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee signed the Access to Public Records Act into law in June of 2012 it was noted that employment contracts and other documents that had been sealed in the past would now be public and readily available.

Access/RI found that restructured law was not being followed when routine documents such as arrest reports and contracts were requested. Many school systems have been unwilling to comply with the law and instead give heavily redacted copies of employment contracts. . . .

Oklahoma Governor and Politicians Squash Latest Attempt For Justice Reform.

08 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by in Criminal Law, Government, Justice Reform, Open Records Act

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Special Report: How Actions by Governor’s Staff Led to Weakened State Justice Reforms, by Clifton Adcock, Oklahoma Watch

http://tinyurl.com/mp9xr7q

Oklahoma’s incarceration rate is one of the highest in the nation. Oklahoma incarcerates the most women in the United States and is the third highest state in incarceration of men. According to Oklahoma’s Big Brothers Big Sisters, which recently lost its federal funding to its Mentoring Children of Prisoner’s Program, 27,000 children in Oklahoma have one or both parents in prison today. The concern over Oklahoma’s increasing prison population and ripple effect on its citizens makes this latest lost opportunity even more discouraging. -CCE

Note: Oklahoma Watch is offering this detailed, 4,500-word story on events that led up to changes in the state’s most significant justice-reform effort in recent history. With Oklahoma having some of the nation’s highest incarceration rates, hopes soared in 2012 among leaders and residents when the Justice Reinvestment Initiative was signed into law. Others viewed it skeptically. Newly released records reveal what happened in state government that led to a weakening of the original plan for implementing the reforms.

Behind-the-scenes moves by Gov. Mary Fallin’s senior staff members helped lead to a severe weakening of a program designed to cut the state’s high incarceration rates and save taxpayers more than $200 million over a decade, according to interviews and records obtained by Oklahoma Watch.

The efforts by the governor’s staff, assisted by legislative leaders, to take control of the Justice Reinvestment Initiative took place during periods when staff members met with representatives of private prison companies, which stood to gain or lose depending on how the initiative was implemented, emails and logs of visitors to Fallin’s offices show.