Permits records required to be disclosed under the freedom of information law to have exempt parts of such documents be redacted before disclosure

• Democratic3

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why James Skoufis says this is needed

The language in this bill was drafted based on a recommendation in the Committee on Open Government(COOG) 2024 annual report. The bill is a response to bad court decisions and clarifies New York's Freedom of Information Law as it pertains to redactions and disclosure. New York's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) is clear: When part of a record is exempt from FOIL, agencies must still disclose the parts that are not exempt. Unfortunately, the Appellate Division, First Department - which deals with some of NY's most important cases - has grossly misinterpreted the law to state that when part of a record is exempt, the agency may withhold the entire record. As COOG has pointed out, this interpretation contradicts the law. COOG stated in a September 2024 Advisory Opinion (FOIL AO 19866) that agen- cies "may withhold the record if disclosure 'would constitute an unwar- ranted invasion of personal privacy under the provisions of subdivision two of section eighty-nine of this article' (POL § 87(2)(b)), but that 'disclosure shall not be construed to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy . . . when identifying details are deleted' (POL § 89(2)(c)(i))." COOG also notes that the First Department's findings contradict the state's own case law. In their AO, COOG quotes an influential 1985 deci- sion stating that "to the extent the reports contain 'statistical or factual tabulations or data' (Public Officers Law § 87 2 G I), or other material subject to production, they should be redacted and made available to appellant." The intent of FOIL and these decisions is obvious, but the First Depart- ment has continued to misinterpret the law. This bill will help ensure that courts correctly apply FOIL regarding what information must be disclosed to the public.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.