The Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor of a non-profit prisoner advocacy organization Tuesday, finding that Maine County Commissioners Association Self-Funded Risk Management Pool (Risk Pool) refused in bad faith to comply with the non-profit’s request from records under Maine’s Freedom of Access Act (FOAA).
This case was the first in which the court could consider what constitutes “bad faith” for the purposes of a FOAA provision allowing attorney’s fees and litigation expenses to be awarded to a plaintiff if a records request was denied in bad faith.
In June of 2021, the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC), an organization that advocates on behalf of the human rights of people held in U.S. detention facilities, submitted a FOAA request to Kennebec County in relation to the settlement of a federal lawsuit against the county for the alleged maltreatment of a prisoner at the Kennebec County Jail.
The HRDC became aware of the county’s $30,000 settlement agreement from a Portland Press Herald article, regarding a federal lawsuit brought by a Kennebec County Jail prisoner who claimed a jail guard used pepper spray on him and then assaulted him in 2019.
The Kennebec County attorney responded to the HRDC’s request by sending copies of pleadings filed in the case and a copy of the settlement agreement — however, the agreement did not mention the $30,000 payment cited in the Press Herald article.
When the HRDC sent a FOAA request to the Risk Pool, a government entity responsible for covering the costs of legal settlements, asking for documentation of the $30,000 settlement payment, the Risk Pool responded by saying “See attached,” attaching the Press Herald article, and claiming that they had already sent the “actual agreement.”
Following a complaint filed against the Risk Pool in February 2022 for not fulfilling the request, a Maine Superior Court held a bench trial on Sept. 29, 2022.
During the trial, the Risk Pool acknowledged that it did in fact have documentation of the settlement payment, but had not provided it to the HRDC because they believed that the organization had not specifically requested it.
The court found that the Risk Pool violated Maine’s FOAA by failing to turn over the settlement documents to the HRDC, and that they had “adopted absurd, blatantly untrue, and inconsistent legal positions in this litigation to avoid a ruling on the merits.”
The Risk Pool appealed the decision to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, contending that the HRDC’s appeal was untimely and that the Superior Court erred in awarding the organization attorney fees.
The Supreme Judicial Court upheld the Superior Court’s 2022 decision, siding with the HRDC.
“Instead of facilitating HRDC’s access to the responsive material in the Risk Pool’s possession, the Risk Pool did the very opposite, while pretending to facilitate: it mischaracterized HRDC’s FOAA request as being different and narrower than it was, ignored HRDC’s efforts to correct the mischaracterization, and deliberately withheld access to documents in its possession that clearly were responsive to the request and should have been disclosed,” Justice Andrew Horton wrote for the Court’s majority opinion.
“As we learned at oral argument, although the court ordered the Risk Pool to provide HRDC with the responsive documents, it still has not done so because it continues to maintain that they were not requested. We agree with the court that ‘the Risk Pool’s behavior was so deceptive and abusive of the FOAA process’ that an award of attorney fees based on bad faith is warranted,” Justice Horton wrote.
“The Risk Pool appears to proffer two reasons for failing to provide the documents in its possession reflecting payment of the settlement, neither of which withstands even cursory examination,” he wrote.
The HRDC was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Maine in their 2022 Superior Court appeal trial.
“The documents in this case are public, and there is a strong public interest in understanding the use of taxpayer dollars and settlements stemming from allegations of misconduct in Maine jails. These documents should have been released in 2021 when they were requested,” said ACLU of Maine Legal Fellow Anahita Sotoohi in a Tuesday press release.
“Maine’s Freedom of Access Act has been the law since 1959, but this is the first time that bad faith has been found in a FOAA case and that attorney fees have been awarded. Establishing this standard is a significant victory for transparency and the ability of Maine’s people to hold the government accountable,” Sotoohi said.
Read the Maine Supreme Judicial Court’s full ruling below:
