Hiding Police Misconduct from Public Scrutiny!? NYCLU v. Rochester

In this video, we discuss the case of New York Civil Liberties Union v. City of Rochester, which addresses whether unsubstantiated police disciplinary records are discoverable under a Freedom of Information Law request. A must watch for all police reform advocates, open government advocates, Freedom of Information Law users, government agency attorneys, police officers, police union officers, legislators, court watchers, law students, and all who are interested in real civil cases.

Case Name: Matter of New York Civ. Liberties Union v City of Rochester
Citation: 2025 NY Slip Op 01010 (https://law.justia.com/cases/new-york/court-of-appeals/2025/13.html)
Publication Date: 02/20/25
Issue: Is a claim filed early under the Child Victims Act subject to dismissal pursuant to the statute of limitations?

Key Parts of the Decision:

Overall Issue: “The question on this appeal is whether FOIL’s personal privacy exemption, which was left intact by the 2020 amendments, provides a basis for agencies to categorically withhold all disciplinary records relating to complaints against law enforcement officers that were not deemed substantiated.”

Overall Holding: “The answer is no.”

“We agree with respondents that FOIL, as amended in conjunction with the repeal of Civil Rights Law § 50-a, does not deny law enforcement officers the benefit of this exemption. However, the Appellate Division correctly concluded—consistent with uniform appellate precedent—that there is no categorical or blanket personal privacy exemption for records relating to complaints against law enforcement officers that are not deemed substantiated.”

“Rather than withhold all such records, Public Officers Law § 87 (2) requires an agency to evaluate each record individually and determine whether “a particularized and specific justification” exists for denying access on the ground that disclosing all or part of the record would constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy (see Public Officers Law § 87 [2] [b]; Matter of Gould, 89 NY2d at 275). Where redactions would prevent such an invasion and can be made without unreasonable difficulty, the agency must disclose the record with those necessary redactions (see Matter of Schenectady County Socy. for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Inc. v Mills, 18 NY3d 42, 45 [2011]; Matter of Data Tree, LLC v Romaine, 9 NY3d 454, 464 [2007]). The Appellate Division properly directed respondents to undertake this process, subject to further judicial review.”

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