Bloomberg ordered to release Cathleen Black emails
11/23/2011
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NEW YORK, Nov 23 (Reuters) - A judge on Wednesday ordered New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office to release emails between mayoral officials and former schools chancellor Cathleen Black, who resigned last April after a controversial three months in office.

Journalist Sergio Hernandez, who at the time was working for the Village Voice, requested the documents on Nov. 19, 2010, approximately 10 days after Bloomberg announced that Black would replace longtime chancellor Joel Klein, according to court documents.

But the mayor's office denied the request. In a response, a lawyer for the mayor's office said the emails could be kept sealed under two statutes governing public officers: one allows agencies to withhold documents if disclosure "would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy," while the other allows agencies to withhold "inter-agency and intra-agency materials," he asserted.

After his subsequent appeal to the city was denied, Hernandez filed a civil petition seeking the documents. State Supreme Court Justice Alice Schlesinger ruled that the city's argument was baseless.

"The conclusory, blanket denials do not satisfy the standard set by the law," she wrote. "What is more, a review of the two claimed exemptions reveals that neither one applies."

The privacy exception, she ruled, was intended to protect "information of a genuinely private nature only" and had to be balanced with the public interest in disclosure. In the case of Black, who was previously the president of Hearst magazines, Schlesinger noted that her background was of particular value to the public, since she required a waiver from the state education department due to her lack of relevant experience.

"As Ms. Black did not meet the credentialing requirements for the all-important position of School Chancellor, the public has the right to know what information about her employment history and qualifications was disclosed in the e-mails," the judge wrote. "Any information of an intensely personal nature could easily be redacted, with the balance of the information disclosed."

Schlesinger also said that the "inter-agency" rule did not apply, as Black was still a private citizen at the time and did not yet work for the city.

Hernandez said he was "thrilled" at the ruling.

"It's not uncommon for agencies to stonewall you and basically force you to take them to court to get what you're looking for," he said. "I'm excited to see what's in the emails. It could be something really interesting; it could be something really boring. You never know."

A spokeswoman for the city's legal department was not immediately available for comment.

Schlesinger took note that New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio is currently examining why the city "fails so miserably to release even the most routine data requested under the state's Freedom of Information Law," she wrote, quoting a New York Times editorial.

The case is in the Matter of the Application of Sergio Hernandez, New York Supreme Court, New York County, No. 106213/11.

For Hernandez: Elizabeth Wolstein of Schlam, Stone & Dolan

For the mayor's office: Jeffrey Dantowitz of the city's Corporation Counsel

(Reporting by Joseph Ax)

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