Opinion ID: 1242767
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Trial Court's Application of Balancing Test

Text: ¶ 20 The trial court appropriately conducted the balancing test pursuant to Carlson, 141 Ariz. at 490-91, 687 P.2d at 1245-46. In reviewing the trial court's findings of fact, we apply two different standards of review. We will uphold its findings of fact unless clearly erroneous. See Arizona Bd. of Regents v. Phoenix Newspapers, Inc., 167 Ariz. 254, 257, 806 P.2d 348, 351 (1991). We are, however, free to draw our own conclusions of law from these facts. Id. Thus, whether plaintiffs wrongfully denied defendants access to public records is an issue of law which we review de novo. Cox Arizona Publications, 175 Ariz. at 14, 852 P.2d at 1198 (citation omitted). ¶ 21 None of the trial court's findings of fact set forth earlier are clearly erroneous. However, one finding of fact made by the trial court is irrelevant to the balancing test: namely, that the Arizona Department of Education and plaintiffs already conduct criminal background checks on teachers. The purpose of the Public Records Law, like the FOIA, is to open agency action to the light of public scrutiny. Department of Air Force v. Rose, 425 U.S. 352, 361, 96 S.Ct. 1592, 1599, 48 L.Ed.2d 11 (1976) (citation omitted) (internal quotations omitted); see also Phoenix Newspapers, Inc. v. Purcell, 187 Ariz. 74, 81, 927 P.2d 340, 347 (App.1996) (it is well-settled that Arizona evinces a general open access policy toward public records). The Public Records Law exists to allow citizens to be informed about what their government is up to. Reporters Comm., 489 U.S. at 773, 109 S.Ct. at 1481 (citation omitted) (internal quotations omitted). Given this purpose, the public interest in disclosure is not diminished by the possibility or even the probability that [the agency] is doing its [] job right. Washington Post Co. v. United States Dep't of Health & Human Serv., 690 F.2d 252, 264 (D.C.Cir. 1982) (footnote omitted). ¶ 22 With regard to the public interest asserted by defendants, we note that if given the birth dates, defendants plan to run criminal background checks on the teachers to see if any of them have criminal records. Clearly, the public has an interest in knowing whether the districts employ teachers with criminal records who might pose a threat to public school children. ¶ 23 The trial court found that defendants have no reason to believe that any of the thousands of teachers involved in this case have been involved in inappropriate behavior. Defendants correctly point out that they did discover misconduct by a teacher who is a registered sex offender. Perhaps there are others, but defendants have produced no evidence or even a tip about any specific individual. Defendants, of course, are not required to prove that there are teachers that pose a threat to public school children. But when defendants are unable to provide any basis at all for believing that such a teacher might exist among the thousands of individuals whose legitimate expectations of privacy are sought to be invaded, the public interest in disclosure is at best speculative. ¶ 24 While the teachers' expectation of privacy may be diminished because the information is available elsewhere, the trial court also found that the availability of the birth dates through other avenues reduces the need for public disclosure. Federal cases construing the FOIA have so held. See Dobronski v. FCC, 17 F.3d 275 (9th Cir.1994); Multnomah County Med. Soc'y v. Scott, 825 F.2d 1410 (9th Cir.1987). Under this component to the balancing test, the public interest increases when there is no other available way to obtain the information and correspondingly decreases when alternative means of receiving the information exist. [3] See, e.g., Dobronski, 17 F.3d at 280; Multnomah County Med. Soc'y, 825 F.2d at 1416. Because defendants do not dispute that the information sought is otherwise available to them, the need for public disclosure is reduced. ¶ 25 From the facts presented, the minimal public interest shown by defendants does not override the privacy interest of the teachers. On the facts of this case, plaintiffs correctly withheld the teachers' birth dates from defendants and the trial court correctly sustained that action.