Green v. Chicago Police Department

Summary

The Illinois Supreme Court held that, unless a Freedom of Information Act exemption provides otherwise, a court reviewing a public body's withholding of records should apply a time-of-request approach. The court concluded that the legality of the withholding is ordinarily determined based on the circumstances existing when the public body made its decision, rather than on circumstances that changed during the enforcement litigation. The court reasoned that this approach promotes finality and permits a requester to submit a new request if later circumstances make the records releasable.

Holdings

1. Unless the applicable FOIA exemption provides otherwise, a court must determine whether requested records may be withheld based on the circumstances existing when the public body asserted the exemption and denied the request, rather than based on changed circumstances arising during the litigation.
2. The later vacation of the injunction did not make CPD's withholding improper because the injunction barred disclosure when CPD constructively denied Green's request.

Questions Presented

1. Whether, under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, a court reviewing a public body's withholding of records must evaluate the denial based on circumstances existing when the request was denied or based on circumstances existing when the court reviews the denial.
2. Whether the subsequent vacation of an injunction that barred disclosure made CPD's original withholding improper.

Disposition

reversed