Opinion ID: 2328725
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Facts and Prior Procedural History

Text: Since 1997, Gannett Co. (through its local media entity, the News Journal) has sought information from the Delaware Criminal Justice Information System in order to study the state's criminal justice system. DELJIS denied the News Journal's first request for data, and the News Journal sued in an effort to compel release of the data. [1] The Superior Court held that the News Journal may be entitled to some information but that its then-300-category request was too broad. [2] The Superior Court concluded that information that could be used, either directly or indirectly, to recreate an individual's criminal history should not be released. [3] As a result, in 2000 the News Journal submitted a new request to DELJIS for information, paring down the number of requested data fields to fewer than 200. All direct identifiers were excluded. Four indirect identifiers remained: age, race, sex, and county of residence. On January 25, 2001, the full DELJIS board unanimously voted to provide the News Journal with the fields requested, with a few exceptions. The Board voted to exclude the requested CJIS, SBI, and defendant identification fields, and not to provide fictitious linking numbers. [4] The Board also voted not to provide the names of police, probation, and parole officers, but instead to provide their identification numbers in scrambled form. Finally, the Board voted to file a complaint for a declaratory judgment by the Superior Court, asking that Court to decide whether DELJIS was required to release SBI, CJIS, or defendant identification information. DELJIS filed the declaratory judgment action the same day. The issues presented to the trial court were whether the contested data fields constituted criminal history information as defined by Chapter 85 of Title 11 of the Delaware Code (Chapter 85) and whether the use of linking numbers would invade privacy and therefore constitute an exception under Title 29, Section 10002(d)(4) of the Delaware Code [5] and Chapter 85. Both parties moved for summary judgment, and the Superior Court denied both motions. [6] The Court itself framed the issue remaining for determination as follows: whether the News Journal could take vertical criminal histories and cross reference them with other sources to determine names to correspond with the vertical histories. [7] The Superior Court held an evidentiary hearing in the declaratory judgment action in February and April 2002. The parties presented the testimony of several expert witnesses, police officers, and newspaper personnel. After hearing the experts' testimony on linking numbers, the Court found that the experts agreed that all the information that the News Journal is requesting is a matter of public record and that merely creating a fictitious linking number would not invade personal privacy. The only way privacy would be implicated is if an individual could be re-identified, and through the linking number linked to a specific vertical history. The Court then considered whether vertical histories could be cross-referenced with other sources, such as newspaper articles or an arrest warrant database, to link names with the vertical histories. The Superior Court held that the News Journal was entitled to receive the linking numbers because re-identification is not possible using such numbers. [8] It limited the information that could be released to the News Journal, however, to data relating to convictions. Data relating to cases in which no conviction was obtained were not to be disclosed. In addition, the court excluded release of geographic information and police officer information. [9] The News Journal moved for reargument, arguing that the non-conviction data and geographic information fields had not been presented for decision by the court because DELJIS had already agreed to release those fields. The News Journal also requested attorneys' fees pursuant to FOIA, claiming the award as the prevailing party on the linking numbers issue. The Superior Court denied the motion for reargument and granted in part the News Journal's request for attorneys' fees. The News Journal appeals, challenging the Superior Court's judgment with respect to the geographic information, non-conviction data, and police officer information fields. The News Journal also appeals the Superior Court's partial award of attorneys' fees. DELJIS cross-appeals, challenging the award of attorneys' fees to the News Journal.