Court Opinion

ID: 9636922
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 14:49:38.565565+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:09:51.407425
License: Public Domain

Justice SAYLOR,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent, for the reasons articulated in the Commonwealth Court’s initial decision in this matter, authored by Senior Judge Jiuliante. See Tribune-Review Pub. Co. v. DCED, 751 A.2d 689 (Pa.Cmwlth.2000). In summary, the unfunded grant applications under review bear a sufficiently close nexus to the Department’s decision-making (which entails either rejecting them, or, apparently, deciding not to review them at all) to fall within the Right to Know Act’s definition of public records, see 65 P.S. § 66.1(2). See generally North Hills News Record v. McCandless, 555 Pa. 51, 55-58, 722 A.2d 1037, 1039-40 (1999) (holding, based on a long line of *94decisions originating in the Commonwealth Court, that documents are “public records” under the Act where they bear a close relationship to an actual agency decision). Moreover, to permit the Department’s explanation that its decisions are predicated upon recommendations from legislators, as opposed to any competitive review process, to control the public’s right to access would subvert the Act’s salutary purposes. See id. at 692-94.
I also differ with the majority’s interpretation of Tribune-Review Publishing Co. v. Westmoreland County Housing Auth., 574 Pa. 661, 833 A.2d 112 (2003), as confirming that the Right to Know Act requires disclosure only of documents prepared by, or at the express direction, of a government agency. See Majority Opinion, slip op. at 11. To the contrary, such decision makes clear that the statutory definition of a public record “applies to a wide range of documents that contain information relating to the disbursement of public funds or an action of an agency that fixes the rights or obligations of individuals.” Id. at 668-69, 833 A.2d at 116; accord LaValle v. Office of General Counsel, 564 Pa. 482, 493-94, 769 A.2d 449, 456 (2001) (explaining that the Right to Know Act requires disclosure of minutes, orders, decisions, accounts, vouchers, and contracts, and documents bearing a sufficiently close nexus to such statutory categories).
Finally, I believe that the Tribune-Review’s request for information from the Department’s database derived from those applications represents a reasonable approach to production of the relevant information, while avoiding the cumbersome process of parsing through each application to evaluate whether, and to what extent, it may contain additional information exempted from disclosure. Accord Tribune-Review, 751 A.2d at 693 (observing that “the Department cannot be forced to compile a list of unsuccessful grant applications; however, it can be compelled to provide information sufficient to allow the Tribune to compile its own list”).
Justice CASTILLE and Justice NIGRO join this dissenting opinion.