Newsday, Inc. v. Empire State Development Corporation

Summary

The New York Court of Appeals held that subpoenas issued by a district attorney and later held by the Empire State Development Corporation were agency records subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Law. The court rejected the argument that the subpoenas retained immunity from FOIL because they originated as judicial mandates, reasoning that FOIL applies based on the records’ possession by a covered agency unless a statutory exemption is established. The court reversed the Appellate Division and reinstated Supreme Court’s judgment requiring disclosure.

Holdings

1. Subpoenas held by ESDC, a state public corporation and FOIL-defined agency, constitute agency records because they are information kept or held by an agency in physical form.
2. The subpoenas' status as court mandates does not make them permanently immune from FOIL once they are possessed by an agency subject to FOIL.
3. ESDC was required to disclose the subpoenas because it failed to demonstrate that they fell within a statutory exemption under Public Officers Law § 87(2).

Questions Presented

1. Whether subpoenas issued by a court or for a court remain exempt from disclosure under FOIL after coming into the possession of a governmental agency subject to FOIL.
2. Whether subpoenas held by the Empire State Development Corporation constitute agency records under the statutory definitions of agency and record in Public Officers Law § 86.
3. Whether ESDC established that a statutory exemption under Public Officers Law § 87(2) authorized withholding the subpoenas.

Disposition

reversed