On July 24, an understandably irate reporter, Roberto Ferdinand, tweeted:
"Want to know why almost no info is being released about Breonna Taylor's death? Let me tell you a story about the time (yesterday) the public info officer for Louisville Metro Police Department made up a section of Open Records Law and then tried to act like it didn't happen."
https://twitter.com/robferdman/status/1286660391930597376?s=10
Ferdman works for VICE Media, which identifies itself as "The Definitive Guide to an Uncertain World." He was attempting to gather records and information from Louisville Metro Police Department, and Louisville Metro Government, about the police killing of Breonna Taylor.
Ferdman described the all too familiar evasive tactics LMPD and other Metro agencies employ to impede access to public records. LMPD excluded weekends from the current 10 day deadline for agency response — not excluded under SB 150 — allowing itself 16 days to issue a final response.
When Ferdman pointed this out, LMPD extended the deadline to 25 business days, attributing the delay to an "unmanageable volume" of requests, staffing shortages due to COVID, and the need to redact responsive records. Shortly thereafter, LMPD's public information officer —with whom Ferdman had communicated — went on vacation.
This prompted Ferdman to identify "the defining features of Breonna Taylor's case [as] how little information has been shared with the public."
Ferdman's reports, linked below, catalogue a series of unanswered requests to LMPD and Metro Government. Whether he has received substantive denials — or just the runaround — is unclear.
Unofficial sources provided many of the records in his reports, which focus on the events of the night Breonna Taylor was killed, the circuitous route the subsequent investigation took, the resulting protests, and allegations that the execution of no-knock warrants on the night of Breonna Taylor's death were linked to a Metro Government development project.
New details emerge for those who have followed the story. Old tactics aimed at delay and obfuscation appear throughout.
Did LMPD and Louisville Metro violate the open records law — or subvert the intent of the law short of denial of inspection — in its handling of Ferdman's requests?
https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=23065
Based on what we know, the answer is "yes."
Was meaningful relief available to Ferdman under the open records law?
Probably not.
Had he appealed on the basis of subversion of the intent of the law short of denial of inspection, its likely that LMPD and Metro Government would have mustered their "strained" resources to respond and, it is even more likely, denied the requests based on the ongoing investigation.
And there Ferdman — and the public — would hit the wall. Since these access issues are — or soon will be — in circuit court, we must hope that the court understands existing legal precedent better than the the agencies which continue to resist disclosure.
