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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Brant Houston, Executive Director, 573-882-2042, brant@ire.org
June 17, 2005
Ruling affirms public's right to GIS data
The Connecticut Supreme Court has upheld a trial court ruling that allows access to geographic information system data from the town of Greenwich, Conn.
Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc., the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Society of Environmental Journalists joined to file a friend-of-the-court brief in support of allowing access to such data. IRE was represented pro bono by its regular outside freedom-of-information counsel, David B. Smallman, Esq., and another lawyer from DLA Piper Rudnick's New York office, Andrew L. Deutsch.
The case, "Director, Department Of Information Technology of the Town of Greenwich v. Freedom of Information Commission et al." (SC 17262), originated when a citizen, Stephen Whitaker, requested a copy of all GIS data and the town refused, citing exemptions from Connecticut's Freedom of Information law based on a need to protect trade secrets and that releasing such data would compromise the security of its information technology system.
The trial court found "the plaintiff had failed to provide any specific evidence that would demonstrate that disclosure of the requested data would compromise the security or integrity of the town's information technology system." In addition, the court found the records did not constitute trade secrets because "the requested data was merely a computerized compilation of the town's records that otherwise could be obtained by requesting the information piecemeal from various individual town departments."
Whitaker won rulings in favor of release from the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission in 2002 and the Connecticut Superior Court in 2004. Greenwich appealed to the Connecticut Appellate Court, but the Supreme Court stepped in and transferred the case onto its own docket.
In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court found the town failed to show that the security or integrity of its information technology system would be compromised by disclosure of the GIS data.
IRE's attorney, David Smallman, observes that "this decision demonstrates the benefits of journalism organizations working together in important freedom of information cases to provide helpful facts and analysis to courts responsible for protecting public access to information, such as GIS data."
IRE Executive Director Brant Houston said "We are pleased that the public interest and common sense have prevailed and we thank David Smallman and Andrew Deutsch for their superb work and their representation of IRE in this matter.
Houston noted that spatial data, which is gathered at taxpayer expense, provides value to the public sector and provides a tool for news reports on economic, scientific, and social issues.
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