State Library v. Freedom of Information Com'n

• Decision Date: 13 May 1997
• Docket Number: Nos. 15522,15523,s. 15522
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE LIBRARY v. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION COMMISSION et al. CITY OF NORWICH et al. v. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION COMMISSION et al.

Page 1235

694 A.2d 1235

240 Conn. 824

STATE LIBRARY v. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION COMMISSION et al.

CITY OF NORWICH et al. v. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION COMMISSION et al.

Nos. 15522, 15523.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Argued March 27, 1997.

Decided May 13, 1997.

Linsley J. Barbato, Assistant Attorney General, with whom, on the brief, were Richard Blumenthal, Attorney General, and Ralph E. Urban and Bernard F. McGovern, Assistant Attorneys General, for the appellant in Docket No. 15522 (plaintiff state library).

Marc S. Mandell, Providence, for the appellants in Docket No. 15523 (plaintiff city of Norwich et al.).

Victor R. Perpetua, Appellate Attorney, with whom, on the brief, was Mitchell W. Pearlman, Commission Counsel, for the appellee in both cases (named defendant).

Jane Richardson, Basile, with whom, on the brief, was James C. Mcguire, New London, for the appellees in both cases (defendant Maria T. Hileman et al.).

Before BORDEN, NORCOTT, PALMER, McDONALD and PETERS, JJ.

PETERS, Justice.

Both under the general provisions of the Uniform Administrative Procedure Act; General Statutes § 4-183(a); ¹ and the specific provisions of the Freedom of Information Act; General Statutes § 1-21i(d); ² only a person aggrieved by a final decision of the defendant freedom of information commission (commission) may appeal from that decision to the trial court. The sole issue in these consolidated appeals is whether the plaintiffs, the Connecticut state library (state library), the city of Norwich, Richard Abele and James McGeowan, have proven that they were each aggrieved by a decision of the commission ordering the release of certain documents to the defendant Maria T. Hileman, a reporter employed by the defendant Day Publishing Company, the publisher of a New London area newspaper. ³ The trial court, Hurley, J., found that the plaintiffs had demonstrated their aggrievement and sustained their appeals. The defendants appealed ⁴ to the Appellate Court, which concluded that the trial court should have dismissed the plaintiffs' appeals on the ground that the plaintiffs had failed to establish their aggrievement. State Library v. Freedom of Information Commission, 41 Conn.App. 641, 648, 677 A.2d 470 (1996). Having granted, in identical terms, the plaintiffs' petitions for certification, ⁵ we now reverse the judgment of the Appellate Court.

The relevant facts are described in the opinion of the Appellate Court. "On September 30, 1964, the Norwich city council voted to establish a special five member committee from among the members of the council. The committee was authorized to investigate the official conduct of the Norwich police department and the officers and members thereof, pursuant to the Norwich city charter. The committee was established in response to allegations that complaints of misconduct by members of the police department had been reported to the chief of police and that no action had been taken by the chief to resolve the complaints.

"The committee began hearings in October, 1964, and concluded the hearings in November, 1964. A total of fifty-four persons testified under oath at the hearings. Approximately one half of the witnesses were members of the Norwich police department. Some of the testimony related to the behavior of certain members of the Norwich police department. The testimony established that certain officers drank alcoholic beverages prior to going on duty and while on duty. Additional testimony concerned the administration of the Norwich police department. Witnesses testified that defects existed concerning the safeguarding of keys to commercial buildings left in the possession of the police, that there were inadequate police patrols in the city at night, and that the rules and regulations of the department were in a book dated 1898 that had not been updated since that time. It was established that the rules and regulations book contained a list of livery stables and instructions for lighting gas lights. Moreover, the first aid section included bloodletting as a corrective measure. Further, testimony established that no training program existed for new officers nor were any continuing education programs in place for officers. Finally, testimony revealed that the detective division was understaffed, that the police department operated in much the same manner as it had twenty to fifty years prior to the hearings, and that the morale of the department was low.

"In March, 1966, the Norwich city council voted that the transcripts of the hearings before the special committee be held for a period of six years and then destroyed in accordance with the provisions of General Statutes (Rev. to 1966) § 7-109. ⁶ In the fall of 1972, the city of Norwich sought permission from the public records administrator to destroy the hearing transcripts. See General Statutes § (Rev. to 1972) § 7-109. The state archivist and the public records administrator both agreed that the records were of sufficient historical significance to the state as to justify their permanent retention. Accordingly, the request of the city to destroy the transcripts was denied. As an alternative, the public records administrator suggested that the transcripts could be transferred to the state library, and that such transfer could be made under seal if disclosure of the contents would adversely affect the public security or financial interests of the state or the reputation or character of any person. The administrator suggested that under such circumstances, the state library would undertake to respect and preserve the confidentiality of the records for an agreed upon period of time. In April, 1973, eighteen volumes of transcripts of testimony taken by the special committee were transferred to the care of the state library to be held under seal and preserved for fifty years.

"In December, 1992, [Hileman] ... requested that the archivist of the state library release copies of the transcripts of the testimony taken before the special committee. Hileman claimed that although the documents were sealed in 1973, there was no justification under the Freedom of Information Act for continuing to keep them sealed. In January, 1993, the state archivist notified Hileman that her request was denied. Thereafter, Hileman and the Day Publishing Company filed a complaint with the commission. The city of Norwich, the Norwich police department, Richard Abele and James McGeowan ⁷ were granted intervenor status.

"A commissioner held a hearing, and Hileman, the state archivist, Abele and McGeowan testified. In August, 1993, the commissioner issued a proposed finding to the parties that provided for disclosure of the transcripts at issue subject to certain redactions being made. In September, 1993, the proposed finding was considered by the commission. The state library, the city of Norwich, the Norwich police department, Abele and McGeowan all objected to the proposed finding. The commission tabled the proposed finding and remanded the case to the commissioner for reconsideration.

"In October, 1993, the matter was again considered by the commission. Over the continuing objection of the state library, the city of Norwich, the Norwich police department, Abele and McGeowan, the commission voted to adopt the commissioner's proposed finding with certain limited modifications that were proposed by the commissioner. Thereafter, the commission issued its final decision.

"The state library, the city of Norwich, the Norwich police department, Abele and McGeowan ... appealed to the Superior Court from the commission's decision. The court found that each plaintiff was aggrieved by the decision of the commission, and the court sustained the plaintiffs' appeals. The commission, Hileman, and the Day Publishing Company (collectively the defendants) appealed to [the Appellate Court]." State Library v. Freedom of Information Commission, supra, 41 Conn.App. at 643-46, 677 A.2d 470.

Concluding that the trial court's finding of aggrievement was improper, the Appellate Court reversed the trial court's judgments. The Appellate Court reviewed the established case law that makes a showing of aggrievement a jurisdictional prerequisite to an administrative appeal. Id., at 646-48, 677 A.2d 470. It then examined the record and the proceedings before the trial court with respect to the plaintiffs' proof of aggrievement in these appeals. It observed that the trial court had "failed to take evidence with respect to the plaintiffs' claimed aggrievement. Prior to hearing the appeals, the only source of information that the court had before it regarding any possible aggrievement was that contained in the administrative record." Id., at 648, 677 A.2d 470. The Appellate Court held that "a party may not properly rely on the administrative record to establish the fact of aggrievement, but instead, that party has the burden of proving aggrievement in the trial court." Id. Because, in the view of the Appellate Court, the trial court had before it no competent evidence upon which to base a finding that the plaintiffs were aggrieved, the Appellate Court determined that "the trial court was without jurisdiction to hear" the plaintiffs' claims. Id.

Without disputing that the trial court failed to hold an evidentiary hearing on aggrievement, the plaintiffs nevertheless seek reversal of the judgment of the Appellate Court on two grounds, one procedural and one substantive. As a matter of procedure, they claim that, if the necessary facts can be found upon examination of the administrative record, the pleadings and the briefs of the parties, then aggrievement may be proven without an evidentiary hearing by the trial court. As a matter of substance, they claim that the record in these appeals supports the trial court's finding of aggrievement. We agree with both of the plaintiffs' claims.

I

For guidance regarding the procedural requirements for a showing of aggrievement in an...