A Commonwealth Court ruling that prevents a state agency from using an exemption as a blanket denial for a right-to-know request -- instead of deciding whether some information could be released -- upholds a concept of the state's new right-to-know law, according to a story in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency gave the Tribune-Review a list of equipment purchased by fire companies and other agencies with Homeland Security grant money, but wouldn't name the companies or agencies that got the equipment, citing security reasons.
The newspaper appealed to the Office of Open Records and lost. But the Commonwealth Court ruling means that PEMA must go through the list of items and make a case as to why the recipient of each item should be private. The court wrote that many common items were bought with the money.
The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency gave the Tribune-Review a list of equipment purchased by fire companies and other agencies with Homeland Security grant money, but wouldn't name the companies or agencies that got the equipment, citing security reasons.
The newspaper appealed to the Office of Open Records and lost. But the Commonwealth Court ruling means that PEMA must go through the list of items and make a case as to why the recipient of each item should be private. The court wrote that many common items were bought with the money.
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