Maura Healey refuses to disclose

Mike S said:
GOAL filed a FOIA yesterday requesting all comm's, etc, etc, etc leading up to 7/20 that had anything to do with AWB's, copycats and anything else that might have given her input/info leading up to her enforcement notice being published.
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great job. can't wait to hear how they dodge this one
 
Mike S said:
GOAL filed a FOIA yesterday requesting all comm's, etc, etc, etc leading up to 7/20 that had anything to do with AWB's, copycats and anything else that might have given her input/info leading up to her enforcement notice being published.
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post-11150-Grumpy-Cat-GOOD-and-NO-memes-pGrc.jpeg
 
Mike S said:
GOAL filed a FOIA yesterday requesting all comm's, etc, etc, etc leading up to 7/20 that had anything to do with AWB's, copycats and anything else that might have given her input/info leading up to her enforcement notice being published.
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I hope they filed the same one against Baker, and some of the legislature. Will stand a better chance of getting answers that way.
 
Coyote33 said:
I hope they filed the same one against Baker, and some of the legislature. Will stand a better chance of getting answers that way.
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At the moment, Healey appears to be eating the Democrats' chances of mounting a successful challenge to Baker's reelection campaign. It would not be a terribly wise thing to upset that by directly and publicly attacking Baker.

Especially if he's willing to provide the info that an FOIA request would compel him to provide, in order to avoid the publicity that a FOIA request would bring him.
 
Just need to make sure that these requests are all communicated to the media. Have all the spotlights shining brightly in their faces. The media attention could be just as valuable and damaging as the request itself. Regardless of the outcome it puts them on the defensive and attacks their credibility.
 
Mike S said:
Governors office exempts themselves from FOIA requests, that precedent was set by Cadillac Deval
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As does the Legislature and the Judiciary, in addition to the Governor's office. Apparently, MA is the only state that allows these exemptions, which demonstrates just how crooked this state is.


Co-host Jim Braude asked Baker if it troubled him that even if recent reforms succeed, Massachusetts would still be the only state in the U.S. where all three branches are exempt from public records requests.
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http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2015/12/17/mass-governors-office-foia-exempt/
 
Shark_Cage said:
I thought FOIA was a Federal law? So she can't be brought into Federal Court over this.

If not this is a stupid law.
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MA has its own version of FOIA...never looked to see if it mirrors the federal FOIA.

http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/guide.pdf



The MA FOIA is also covered by 950 CMR 32, which also has provisions for any person to personally inspect files.

(1)
Access to Public Records. A custodian of a public record shall permit all public records within his or her custody to be inspected or copied by any person during regular business hours. In governmental entities which do not have daily business hours, a written notice shall be posted in a conspicuous location listing the name, position, address and telephone number of the person to be contacted to obtain access to public records.
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http://www.mass.gov/courts/docs/lawlib/900-999cmr/950cmr32.pdf
 
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Dear Massachusetts Residents:

One of the most important functions of the Attorney General’s Office is to promote openness and transparency in government. Every resident of Massachusetts should be able to access and understand the reasoning behind the government policy decisions that affect our lives.
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-A.G. Maura Healey, open meeting guidance preface, March 2015
 
Drix said:
-A.G. Maura Healey, open meeting guidance preface, March 2015
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So doesn't Chas., but it gets us nowhere:

MEMORANDUM

To: Cabinet Secretaries
From: Charles D. Baker, Governor
Date: July 30, 2015
Re: Public Records Requests

Three years ago, a national consortium of good government and media groups gave the Commonwealth a failing grade for its public access to information. Our administration is committed to improving state government’s previous poor transparency rankings. To do that, we must comply with, and even exceed, the requirements of our public records law as interpreted by the Secretary of the Commonwealth and the Supreme Judicial Court. While diligent efforts are made every day across the Executive Branch to respond to a large number of public records requests, we can improve our approach so as to reduce delays and costs that burden accessibility.

We also want to provide access in the most helpful way. An inefficient electronic mail storage system currently frustrates the ability of agencies to search and retrieve emails efficiently. Hopefully we can reduce this limitation. MassIT has already started to pilot agency-wide search capability, and will continue to do so throughout the rest of 2015 and the first half of 2016. This new tool will begin to ease the stress of broad email searches.1

We know too that requesters want to receive information in electronic, searchable formats. That makes sense. Software tools are available that allow for conversion of electronic documents to a format that permits, when necessary in accordance with applicable law, redaction of personally identifiable information, while still allowing for full text searching. Additionally, to increase responsiveness and create efficiencies, we want to encourage public posting of frequently requested records and data. Mass IT will support you on these initiatives.

This Memorandum provides guidance for the Executive Branch that reflects best practices from around the country. It is intended to help us be reasonable, fair and open – even when requests for records are hard to understand, broad in scope and difficult to fulfill.

We have launched the program, generally by Secretariat, with several state entities (MassIT, Division of Administrative Law Appeals, Civil Service Commission, George Feingold Library, and Appellate Tax Board) now using MassVault. We will continue roll-out this summer to the A&F central office, the Governor’s Office, the Gaming Commission, and several Education agencies. We also will begin the first phase of ongoing work this summer at EOHHS. Implementation at the state’s District Attorneys’ offices and several EOPSS agencies is slated for this fall. We continue to refine details of the full FY16 roll-out plan as relevant technical and business decisions are reached.
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Shark_Cage said:
I thought FOIA was a Federal law? So she can't be brought into Federal Court over this.

If not this is a stupid law.
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FOIA is a federal law but it only applies to the federal government. The Mass public records law is what applies to state agencies. Under the public records law the recipient of a records request has a certain amount of time to provide a written response (10 days, I think) and any denial or incomplete response can be appealed to the secretary of state's office.
 
Mike S said:
GOAL filed a FOIA yesterday requesting all comm's, etc, etc, etc leading up to 7/20 that had anything to do with AWB's, copycats and anything else that might have given her input/info leading up to her enforcement notice being published.
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I hope the response has substantial information but I fear it will not.

When NH was implementing changes in the P&R license application I filed an FOIA request with the state. I posted the results here and some of it was blacked out due to it being legal communication. As Healey is the AG, it would not surprise me if she uses that excuse.
 
Drix said:
Dear Massachusetts Residents:

One of the most important functions of the Attorney General’s Office is to promote openness and transparency in government. Every resident of Massachusetts should be able to access and understand the reasoning behind the government policy decisions that affect our lives.
Click to expand...

-A.G. Maura Healey, open meeting guidance preface, March 2015
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Son of a gun!!!!! Send that to GOAL, and to the Globe, Herald, and Telegram; along with GOAL's request.

Heck, send it to Hank Phillippi Ryan, and Team 5 Investigates - WCVB.com


Hank Phillippi Ryan changes laws and changes lives. She’s recovered millions of dollars for scammed consumers, saved dozens of homes from foreclosure, sent wrong-doers to prison and forced state officials to resign. She is widely regarded as one of the most hard-hitting, informative investigative reporters in the region, having won numerous awards for her work. Her leading-edge consumer and investigative reports, “Hank Investigates,” have become not only widely acclaimed, but also viewers’ favorites.
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unfortunately this is what the response will be, for the ag is the enforcer of what public records are released, and there is no law on the books for not releasing public records.

NWS_SecretaryOfSecrecy_728.jpg
 
Mass. AG Healey directed to revise response to ‘copycat’ weapon ban information request
According to a Sept. 16 letter from Shawn A. Williams, Secretary of State William Galvin’s supervisor of records, David Reinhart’s appeal resulted in Galvin’s office contacting Healey’s office — and Healey staffers agreeing to “review Mr. Reinhart’s request and provide a revised response.”
...
Galvin’s office, however, appears to have sided with Reinhart.
...
“While I am gratified that the Secretary of State’s Public Records Division has support my appeal on the ‘deliberative’ exemption, I believe it will be necessary to continue to chip away at the remaining reasons,” Reinhart said in an email.
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A good next step, but I suspect it's going to take at least several more bites at the apple to pry open Healey's file drawers.
 
kevin9 said:
Mass. AG Healey directed to revise response to ‘copycat’ weapon ban information request


A good next step, but I suspect it's going to take at least several more bites at the apple to pry open Healey's file drawers.
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The standard "Clinton Lie Ratchet" video from Bill Whittle comes to mind, that's how all these people operate now, since it works so well. After all, we're attempting to expose the fact that Maura's a political hack ([wave]) that had no sound reason to "reinterpret", expose the larger national conspiracy from the White House get together, and hopefully ruin her blatantly partisan career in the process. I'm glad Reinhart won the appeal (hey, there is hope!). This will take time, hopefully Galvin's office doesn't get tired of us complaining that the AG is treating citizens of the commonwealth like mushrooms.
 
Mike S said:
GOAL filed a FOIA yesterday requesting all comm's, etc, etc, etc leading up to 7/20 that had anything to do with AWB's, copycats and anything else that might have given her input/info leading up to her enforcement notice being published.
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I hope it's also included as to which media outlets "asked" her whether AR-15's are illegal. Because all her statements start with "Well, after the Orlando nightclub shootings people kept asking if these guns are legal in MA." This is what supposedly started their investigation into what is and is not banned via the AWB. If they cannot provide transcripts of such requests, that (to me) indicates that Healey and her minions just invented this "problematic loophole" out of thin air.
 
GOAL filed a FOIA request with the AG on 8/29/16. It is long past the 10-day response period. Does anyone know if GOAL received an appropriate response from the AG within the 10-day response time?
 
goodzilla said:
The standard "Clinton Lie Ratchet" video from Bill Whittle comes to mind, that's how all these people operate now, since it works so well. After all, we're attempting to expose the fact that Maura's a political hack ([wave]) that had no sound reason to "reinterpret", expose the larger national conspiracy from the White House get together, and hopefully ruin her blatantly partisan career in the process. I'm glad Reinhart won the appeal (hey, there is hope!). This will take time, hopefully Galvin's office doesn't get tired of us complaining that the AG is treating citizens of the commonwealth like mushrooms.
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Pretty sure Galvin's office can't do anything more than ask her politely to reconsider. Why do we have a Secretary of State again? I really never quite understood what that office was actually supposed to do.
 

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