On June 26, 2024, New York City’s constructive denial of records from its Department of Correction (DOC) was vacated by a state court. Calling that a violation of the state Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), the Supreme Court of New York for New York County ordered the DOC to produce the requested materials. Because petitioner was an attorney, it also held that the DOC was liable for attorney’s fees.
On July 12, 2023, petitioner Cyrus Joubin, from his eponymous law office, requested DOC’s rules, procedures and policies in effect on October 10, 2017, regarding guards’ responsibilities “to protect inmates from assaults by other inmates” and “to supervise and monitor DOC housing units to prevent violence by inmates against other inmates.” The request further sought policies for conducting investigations into such assaults and violence, as well as investigations into trip-and-fall accidents. It was further refined to include both the Brooklyn Detention Center (BDC) and the Rikers Island jail complex. Identities of guards and other employees on duty that day and their duty rosters were also requested.
When the DOC Records Access Officer (RAO) denied the requests, Joubin then turned to the Records Access Appeals Office (RAAO). But he received no decision …
