Herald-Standard awarded legal fees in open records case with state DOC
Pictured is the front of the Herald-Standard newspaper building on E. Church Street in Uniontown.
Kelly
Palm
Pinarski
Scott
In a “first-of-its kind” enforcement proceeding, the Herald-Standard was awarded nearly $120,000 in legal fees stemming from an open records fight with the state Department of Corrections.
“Requester here advocated the public interest in a matter of public health affecting a captive population,” wrote Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson.
In March, Simpson found that the DOC acted in bad faith when officials repeatedly failed to turn over information about inmate illness at the State Correctional Institution at Fayette and other state prisons, despite being ordered to so. He fined the agency $1,500.
The bad faith finding and fine were both firsts, as was Simpson’s decision to award the paper $118,458, a portion of the fees it took to fight the three-year legal battle.
“This is a case that will be cited for years to come,” said Herald-Standard attorney Charles Kelly.
Executive Editor Michael Palm praised the ruling and expressed frustration that the DOC tried to circumvent the Right to Know Law, a 2009 update to the Right to Know Act that expanded what public agencies have to disclose.
“We were fortunate to have the financial resources, through our ownership, to fight this legal battle,” Palm said. “Had we not, the Department of Corrections would have gone unchecked, withholding information to which not just the newspaper, but any citizen, is entitled to under the law.”
Robert Pinarski was the publisher for the Herald-Standard when the paper decided to pursue the case.
“While the funds spent were significant, I believe they were worthwhile. The Right to Know Law exists so that citizens can look at information from public agencies. Why they want it or what they intend to do with it is irrelevant,” said Pinarski, who is now the Observer-Reporter’s general manager . “When someone requests information they’re entitled to, they should not be refused.”
Michael Scott, who came aboard as publishee earlier this year, also supported the legal battle.
“I’m happy with the outcome. This is a case that newspapers, not only in Pennsylvania, but newspapers across the nation should be aware of,” Scott said.
Between 2015 and August 2018, the newspaper amassed just over $215,000 in legal bills pertaining to a September 2014 request to the DOC for information on inmate illness at SCI-Fayette and other state prisons.
The request for information was initially denied, prompting successful appeals, but, Kelly contended, an incomplete disclosure of responsive records.
In his March ruling, Simpson found that the DOC ignored an order from the state’s Office of Open Records to disclose the requested information, and continued to delay its release of the records after the Commonwealth Court issued a 2016 opinion about the matter.
“Enforcement proceedings should not be necessary to ensure an agency’s compliance with its statutory duties,” he wrote at the time.
In finding that the newspaper is entitled to recoup some of the money it spent on the case, Simpson said he weighed carefully the burden to taxpayers.
“In issuing this award, I am cognizant of its effect on the public fisc because agencies burdened with these fees are funded by tax dollars. Nonetheless, I also discern the importance of allowing recovery of attorney fees when parties engage in litigation that benefits the public by enforcing the statute. This public benefit is only achieved, however, when the party litigating the matter pursues avenues that yield favorable results,” Simpson wrote.
He withheld fees associated with areas of the appeal in which the Herald-Standard was not successful, a request made by the DOC. Simpson additionally did not award fees for certain costs and time spent on any filings he deemed unnecessary.
Simpson gave the DOC, which can appeal the ruling, 30 days to pay the fees.