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Agency Has the Burden of Proving Exemption for FOIL Request

By Steven Silverberg and Katherine Zalantis

The New York Court of Appeals held that the Freedom of Information Law carries the presumption of access to records. In reversing the holding of the Appellate Division and remitting the matter for a factual determination, the Court held in Matter of Data Tree, LLC v. Romaine that the Suffolk County Clerk, which claimed the requested documents were exempt from disclosure, ?carries the burden of demonstrating that the exemption applies to the FOIL request.? Data Tree is in the business of providing property records electronically and had requested that the County Clerk supply copies of various public land records from 1983 to the present, in an electronic format. When the Clerk failed to respond within five days, Data Tree treated this as a de facto denial and made an administrative appeal...continue to full post

Full post as published by New York Zoning and Municipal Law Blog on January 07, 2008 (boomark / email).