from the Michigan Messenger:
Lansing City Council committee demands FOIA policy from city attorney
By Todd A. Heywood 11/5/09 10:18 AMLANSING — The city council’s Public Safety Committee demanded that City Attorney Brigham Smith provide a draft policy to that body in a special 6 p.m. meeting Monday night, or it will introduce an ordinance to address problems with the city’s responses to Freedom of Information Act requests.
First Ward Council member Eric Hewitt said the release of private medical information earlier this year by Smith shows there is “a chasm” on FOIA policy. Michigan Messenger has documented two cases in which the city attorney’s office has released private medical information. The first instance was in July when Smith himself released the HIV status of a man arrested in a controversial sex-sting operation in a local park. Smith said he had ordered city staff not to release medical information in FOIA responses as a result of the situation.
Getting the right balance between releasing information and redacting it is a common theme in FOIA problems for municipalities, especially smaller ones.
