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Charter schools subject to public records law
Charter schools in Massachusetts must comply with the commonwealth’s public records law, G.L.c. 66, §10, the Supreme Judicial Court has ruled.
Education – Public records – Charter school
Where Mystic Valley Regional Charter School refused to comply with multiple public records requests, a Superior Court judgment in favor of the attorney general in an enforcement action should be affirmed because a charter school qualifies as an “authority established by the general court to serve a public purpose” and therefore falls squarely within the class of governmental entities expressly[...]
Attorneys – Fee petition
Where counsel fees have been requested by the prevailing parties under the Massachusetts Public Records Law, a reduced amount should be awarded because the $23,591 sought for time spent preparing the fee petition is excessive and unreasonable.
Municipal – Public records law – Parking permits
Where a Superior Court judge ordered the city of Somerville to produce the names and addresses of residential parking permit holders but also allowed the city to redact vehicle descriptions, the judge’s order should be upheld because disclosure of the names and addresses of the permit holders is not barred by the privacy exemption.
Beacon Hill, rent control ban targeted in flurry of ballot questions
Activists file major ballot petitions in Massachusetts on rent control, tax cuts, transparency, abortion, union rights, and election law reform.
FBI files in Boston police shooting are ‘public records,’ SJC rules
Records that the Federal Bureau of Investigation provided to state prosecutors investigating the fatal shooting of a terror suspect in Boston by members of law enforcement fall within the definition […]
Issues to consider in improving our public records law
Public records laws provide a window into our government. In Massachusetts, both branches of the Legislature recently passed legislation that would give our window, which dates back to the early […]
Freedom of information – Public records law – MBTA
Where the Retirement Board of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Retirement Fund has refused to comply with a newspaper’s records request, the newspaper is entitled to summary judgment on its […]
Education – Public records
Where a judge allowed a plaintiff’s request for production of settlement agreements the defendant Weston public school system reached regarding special education placements, the order must be reversed because the […]
Freedom of information – Protective order – Public records law
Where (1) the Massachusetts Attorney General brought an enforcement action in Superior Court alleging unfair and deceptive practices in the defendant's mortgage lending business, (2) an individual moved to intervene in the enforcement action to pursue his claim of access under the public records law (G.L.c. 66, section10) to documents produced by the defendant and received by the Attorney General [...]
Verdicts & Settlements
- Injury during baby’s adenoidectomy leads to stroke
- Construction worker’s hand caught in cement mixer
- Worker trapped in freezer, dies during steam cleaning
- Pedestrian, 69, hit by motor vehicle while in crosswalk
- Four-vehicle pileup leaves driver with spinal cord injury
- Nursing home staff blamed for kidney-failure death
- Pharmacy’s late delivery blamed for patient’s death
- Man, 25, drowns after swimming lesson at fitness club
Opinion Digests
- Jurisdiction – Forum selection clause – Non-signatory
- Criminal – Responsibility
- Attorneys – Lien
- Landlord and tenant – Default judgment
- Zoning – Constructive grant – Comprehensive permit
- Fraud – False Claims Act – Settlement share
- Civil practice – Discovery – Cybersecurity
