State ex rel. Carr v. London Corr. Inst., 2014–0596.

• Decision Date: 18 June 2015
• Docket Number: No. 2014–0596.,2014–0596.
• Citation: 144 Ohio St.3d 211,41 N.E.3d 1203,2015 Ohio 2363
• Parties: The STATE ex rel. CARR, Appellant, v. LONDON CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION, Appellee.
• Court: Ohio Supreme Court

144 Ohio St.3d 211

41 N.E.3d 1203

2015 Ohio 2363

The STATE ex rel. CARR, Appellant,

v.LONDON CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION, Appellee.

No. 2014–0596.

Supreme Court of Ohio.

Submitted Feb. 3, 2015.

Decided June 18, 2015.

James M. Carr Sr., pro se.

Michael DeWine, Attorney General, and Caitlyn A. Nestleroth, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

{¶ 1} We reverse the Twelfth District Court of Appeals' denial of a writ of mandamus in this public-records case. The case was brought by relator-appellant, James M. Carr Sr., an inmate at London Correctional Institution ("LCI"). Carr made several public-records requests of LCI that were denied; his last request was granted. He filed an action in mandamus in the Twelfth District to obtain the documents that he had not received. He also sought statutory damages under R.C. 149.43, the Public Records Act ("PRA"). The court of appeals granted LCI's motion for summary judgment and denied Carr a writ. It also denied his claim for statutory damages.

{¶ 2} Because LCI has not shown that Carr's requests were ambiguous, overbroad, or unduly burdensome, and because Carr complied with the requirements of R.C. 149.43(C)(1), we reverse, grant a writ of mandamus, and award Carr statutory damages and court costs.

Facts

{¶ 3} In January 2012, the staff in LCI's mailroom was replaced with a group of new, contract employees. As a result, one of the prison chaplains, Chaplain Cahill, drafted a memorandum listing ministries that regularly send religious material to inmates and sent it to the mailroom supervisors to assist the mailroom staff in screening religious materials for unauthorized material and contraband.

{¶ 4} In late February 2012, Carr became aware of the memorandum. He went to the mailroom window and asked to see a copy. The employee working at the mailroom window verified that the memorandum existed but refused to let Carr see the copy in the mailroom's possession and suggested that Carr see Cahill to obtain a copy. Carr immediately went to see Cahill and requested a copy of the memorandum. Cahill refused to allow Carr to see a copy of the memorandum and refused to provide a copy. Carr told Cahill that he would request a copy from Vickey Justus, the warden's administrative assistant, whose duties included responding to public-records requests from inmates.

{¶ 5} On March 5, 2012, Carr hand-delivered a public-records request to DeCarlo Blackwell, the inspector of institutional services, to be delivered to Justus. The request stated:

Dear Mrs. Justus,

This is a public records request pursuant to section 149.43 of the Ohio Revised Code, and DRC policy 07–ORD–02.

I went to see Chaplain Cahill on 2/28/2012, and requested that Chaplain Cahill provide me with a copy of an interoffice memo sent from his office to the mail room. You can contact Chaplain Cahill to find out exactly the memo I am speaking of. I request a copy of the following record:

I request a copy of the inter-office memo between the Chaplains office and the mail room. This memo was sent during January or February of 2012. This memo contains information related to the religious ministries regularly dealt with by the Chaplains office. This memo was sent to the mail room to assist the mail room with the religious material received by the institution.

This public records request was hand delivered to the Institutional Inspector, Mr. Blackwell on 3/5/2012

James M. Carr Sr., # 459–931

On March 8, Justus denied this request, stating that it was "ambiguous, overbroad, and unduly burdensome to produce."

{¶ 6} On March 15, 2012, Carr hand-delivered another public-records request to Blackwell for Justus. That request stated:

I request copies of all e-mails and interoffice memo's sent from Chaplain Cahill, to the mailroom (including it's supervisor's), during the months of January and February for 2012. To be clear, my request is only for e-mails and interoffice memo's sent from Chaplain Cahill to the mailroom (including its supervisor's) for the months of January and February of 2012.

On April 4, 2012, Justus denied the March 15 request, again stating that it was "ambiguous, overbroad, and unduly burdensome to produce."

{¶ 7} On March 21, Carr sent a written request to Cahill for the date on which the memorandum had been sent. On March 26, Cahill responded that he could not tell Carr the date of the original memorandum but that the most recent version had been sent on March 5, 2012.

{¶ 8} On April 10, 2012, Carr hand-delivered another public-records request to Blackwell for Justus. That request was for all e-mails and interoffice memos sent by Cahill to the mailroom during the month of February 2012. On April 19, Justus denied this request, once again stating that it was "ambiguous, overbroad, and unduly burdensome to produce."

{¶ 9} Also on April 10, 2012, Carr delivered a second request to Blackwell that sought a copy of "all interoffice memos and e-mails sent by Chaplain Cahill to the mail room or it's supervisors on 3/5/2012" as well as a current copy of LCI's records-retention schedule. On April 19, Justus responded that Carr needed to submit a cash slip to pay for the copies. Once issues with the cash amount were resolved, Justus provided the records requested in Carr's second April 10, 2012 request.

{¶ 10} Carr filed various internal forms and appeals within the prison in an effort to get the additional documents he had requested, but the records requested in the March 5, March 15, and first April 10, 2012 requests were still not provided.

{¶ 11} On October 18, 2012, Carr filed an action in mandamus in the Twelfth District Court of Appeals seeking a writ of mandamus ordering LCI to provide the documents requested in Carr's March 5, March 15, and first April 10, 2012 requests.

{¶ 12} In the court of appeals, both sides filed motions for summary judgment. As an exhibit to its motion, which was docketed on March 5, 2013, LCI finally provided to Carr a copy of the original memorandum, dated January 30, 2012, from Chaplain Cahill to the mailroom. The court granted summary judgment to LCI as to the March 5, 2012 request, finding that it was properly denied as being ambiguous, but denied summary judgment as to the other requests and directed the parties to file briefs. Both parties filed briefs, and on March 31, 2014, the court of appeals issued a decision ruling that Carr's March 15, 2012 request and first April 10, 2012 request were properly denied as being overbroad. The court denied a writ and denied statutory damages. Carr filed a notice of appeal.

Analysis

{¶ 13} We reverse the judgment of the court of appeals and grant a writ of mandamus because Carr's requests were not ambiguous or overbroad under the PRA. Because Carr complied with the requirements of R.C. 149.43(C)(1) and because withholding the document requested in his March 5, 2012 request was not reasonable, we also award statutory damages. Because we issue a writ and because Carr complied with R.C. 149.43(C)(1), we also award Carr court costs under R.C. 149.43(C)(2) and remand to the court of appeals for a determination of the amount to be awarded as costs.

Affidavit required by R.C. 2969.25(A)

{¶ 14} When an inmate files a civil action, he must comply with several statutes, including R.C. 2969.25(A), which requires that he file an affidavit containing a description of each civil action or appeal that he has filed in the previous five years. LCI claimed below that Carr's affidavit is deficient. The court of appeals ignored this argument and proceeded to the merits; LCI asserts it again here.

{¶ 15} While Carr's affidavit might not be a model, it satisfies the statute. LCI first argues that Carr's affidavit states only that the listed cases are those he has filed against government agencies, yet the statute requires him to list all of the civil cases he has filed, not just those against the government. But LCI points to no evidence that Carr has filed any civil actions other than the ones he listed.

{¶ 16} LCI next asserts that Carr did not name each party in the listed cases. But the captions of the cases list the parties. A separate listing might be preferable, but the information appears in the affidavit, and therefore the requirements of the statute are met.

{¶ 17} Finally, LCI claims that Carr does not include the case name for his last-listed case. However, that case is described as an earlier version of this mandamus action. Again, while not ideal, the court can infer that the case name and parties are the same as those in the current case.

{¶ 18} Carr's affidavit is sufficient under the statute.

Mandamus and public records

{¶ 19} "Mandamus is the appropriate remedy to compel compliance with R.C. 149.43, Ohio's Public Records Act." State ex rel. Physicians Commt. for Responsible Medicine v. Ohio State Univ. Bd. of Trustees, 108 Ohio St.3d 288, 2006-Ohio-903, 843 N.E.2d 174, ¶ 6 ; R.C. 149.43(C)(1). Although "[w]e construe the Public Records Act liberally in favor of broad access and resolve any doubt in favor of disclosure of public records," State ex rel. Rocker v. Guernsey Cty. Sheriff's Office, 126 Ohio St.3d 224, 2010-Ohio-3288, 932 N.E.2d 327, ¶ 6, the relator must still establish entitlement to the requested extraordinary relief by clear and convincing evidence, State ex rel. Doner v. Zody, 130 Ohio St.3d 446, 2011-Ohio-6117, 958 N.E.2d 1235, paragraph three of the syllabus.

{¶ 20} To be entitled to a writ of mandamus, Carr must establish a clear legal right to the requested relief and a clear legal duty on the part of LCI to provide it. State ex rel. Waters v. Spaeth, 131 Ohio St.3d 55, 2012-Ohio-69, 960 N.E.2d 452, ¶ 6.

The March 5, 2012 request

{¶ 21} The court below found that Carr's March 5, 2012 request was properly denied as being ambiguous. LCI argues that the request was ambiguous in that Justus would have been required to do research to determine what record Carr was requesting.

{¶ 22} However, Carr's request identified a particular record authored...