Open Records office upholds H-S appeal
The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records has granted an appeal filed by the Herald-Standard after the Department of Corrections denied access to information about illnesses contracted by inmates and staff at the State Correctional Institute at Fayette.
The Department of Corrections had contended that the information was exempt under the Right to Know Law (RTKL) because it was part of an on-going noncriminal investigation. The Office of Open Records, in granting the appeal by the Herald-Standard, OOR Appeals Officer Kathleen Higgins noted that “Not all agency fact-finding constitutes a ‘noncriminal investigation’ subject to the protections of the RTKL.”
The information was first requested by the Herald-Standard in September, after environmental and civil rights groups contended that a coal ash dump near SCI-Fayette was causing an extraordinary number of illnesses at the prison.
“The Department is the Commonwealth agency charged with overseeing the confinement of inmates, but now asserts that it has undertaken a noncriminal investigation into medical illnesses of inmates and its employees at SCI-Fayette. However, the Department has failed to provide any evidence that an inquiry, examination, or official probe was conducted and how such inquiry, examination or official probe was conducted as part of the Department’s official duties regarding the incarceration of inmates. The Department’s one-time investigation into medical illnesses of its inmates or staff members at SCI-Fayette is ancillary to the overall function and operation of the Department,” the Office of Open Records stated in rendering its opinion.
Further, it was pointed out that the records being sought are part of an investigation now being conducted by the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
“The investigation exemptions under the RTKL generally have only been extended to protect the records of the agency carrying out the investigation, and the the agency that is being investigated,” Higgins wrote.
The Department of Corrections had also attempted to claim an exception to the RTKL on the basis of medical privacy, but the Herald-Standard requested only aggregate information, a listing of the illnesses and number of inmates or employees who had contracted them, with no identifying information requested. Higgins stated that the information without individual identification is not protected, either under the RTKL or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA.)
“We are pleased that the OOR agreed with our position that the records should not be withheld. Those records are necessary for our reporter to continue her investigation into allegations that environmental conditions could be causing serious health issues for inmates and staff at SCI-Fayette,” said Mike Palm, Executive Editor of the Herald-Standard. “We are hopeful that the DOC will comply with the ruling. The Herald-Standard will continue to act as a watchdog for the community through solid investigative journalism.”
The Department of Corrections has 30 days from the date of the ruling to either provide the requested information to the Herald-Standard or to file an appeal in Common Pleas Court.