The Cornell Law School First Amendment Clinic scored an important win last week on behalf of its client Rockland County Business Journal. On July 9, the New York Supreme Court granted the Business Journal’s Freedom of Information Petition for the release of documents related to the county’s award of an $18 million contract for the construction of a new county animal shelter – a recognition that the public has the right to know how its tax dollars are being spent by its own government.
Judge John P. Collins, Jr., wrote a strong and stirring Decision underscoring the vital importance of the press in the functioning of our democracy:
“A free press is not an ornament of democratic government; it is one of its load-bearing walls. The First Amendment’s guarantee of a free press was written into our Constitution precisely so that an independent Fourth Estate could stand between the citizenry and the government that citizenry funds, watching, questioning, and, when necessary, exposing. … A local journalist tracking how a public authority spends eighteen (18) million taxpayer dollars is engaged in exactly the work the First Amendment was written to protect — unglamorous, granular, and indispensable.”
The suit was brought in December 2024 after the Authority produced heavily redacted documents, withheld an entire category of records outright, and denied Traster’s administrative appeals. Judge Collins ruled that the Authority’s redactions and withholdings — justified only by boilerplate recitations of statutory language — “do not withstand scrutiny,” and ordered the records released within 30 days, with any continued redaction requiring a particularized, fact-specific justification submitted for the Court’s in camera review. Finding the Authority had no reasonable basis for denying the request, the court also granted Traster’s application for attorney’s fees and litigation costs, with the amount to be determined once production is complete.
From the Business Journal’s coverage of its win:“This ruling is a gift to the people of Rockland and to those living in New York, where FOIL laws are designed to hold government accountable. …Too often those seeking information give up because they are frustrated by a Goliath. Today was a win for every David that stays engaged in civic life and understands why it’s so important to have an open and transparent government.