Facial recognition/false arrest lawsuits
It is a clone of this request.
| Submitted | Dec. 29, 2020 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Todd Feathers
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Georgia Open Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
1) Copies of any notices of potential legal action (such as an intent to sue letter), formal legal complaints, or comparable documents sent to the city's law department/legal representative regarding cases of alleged misidentification by police facial recognition technology since Jan. 1, 2018. In the event the department does not have the record-keeping ability to locate cases relating to a category such as false identifications/arrests, I ask that you inquire with department employees who would be knowledgeable about such cases in order to identify responsive documents.
2) Any responses from the city or settlement documents relating to cases responsive to the above aspect of this request.
3) A list, database, spreadsheet, or comparable document detailing each false arrest lawsuit brought against the law enforcement department(s) represented by the city's law department/legal representative since Jan. 1, 2018, including, where available, the name of the plaintiff, the name of the defendant, the court docket number, date filed, date settled/closed, settlement amount, and any other details available through the department's case management system.
I'm happy to discuss any aspect of this request, should further clarification be helpful.
I ask that all fees be waived as I am a journalist and I intend to use the requested records to publish articles in the public interest and not for any commercial purpose.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter.
I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 3 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Todd Feathers
From: City Clerk Of Atlanta
Good Afternoon Mr. Feathers:
The Office of Municipal Clerk is in receipt of your Open Records Request e-mail communication dated Tuesday, December 29, 2020 in which you requested information on the following:
1) Copies of any notices of potential legal action (such as an intent to sue letter), formal legal complaints, or comparable documents sent to the city's law department/legal representative regarding cases of alleged misidentification by police facial recognition technology since Jan. 1, 2018. In the event the department does not have the record-keeping ability to locate cases relating to a category such as false identifications/arrests, I ask that you inquire with department employees who would be knowledgeable about such cases in order to identify responsive documents.
2) Any responses from the city or settlement documents relating to cases responsive to the above aspect of this request.
3) A list, database, spreadsheet, or comparable document detailing each false arrest lawsuit brought against the law enforcement department(s) represented by the city's law department/legal representative since Jan. 1, 2018, including, where available, the name of the plaintiff, the name of the defendant, the court docket number, date filed, date settled/closed, settlement amount, and any other details available through the department's case management system.
Be advised that the Municipal Clerk is not the custodian of the records you have requested. You will need to contact Ms. Kristen Denius, the Transparency Officer for the City of Atlanta, via e-mail at
kdenius@atlantaga.gov<mailto:kdenius@atlantaga.gov> for further assistance with your request.
Thank you.
Patricia Marshall
[cid:image001.jpg@01D6DDF7.BAABCC10]
Patricia Marshall / Office of Municipal Clerk/ Atlanta City Council
Atlanta City Hall / 55 Trinity Avenue, SW / Suite 2700 / Atlanta, GA 30303
Office 404.330.6332/ Email pcmarshall@atlantaga.gov<mailto:pcmarshall@atlantaga.gov>
STATEMENT OF CONFIDENTIALITY: The information contained in this electronic message and any attachments are intended for the exclusive use of the addressee(s) and may be confidential or privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you do not have permission to read, print, copy or distribute this message or any attachments. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender by return e-mail or contact the sender if a phone number was provided and permanently delete this message and any attachments from your system.
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From: Todd Feathers
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Georgia Open Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
1) Copies of any notices of potential legal action (such as an intent to sue letter), formal legal complaints, or comparable documents sent to the city's law department/legal representative regarding cases of alleged misidentification by police facial recognition technology since Jan. 1, 2018. In the event the department does not have the record-keeping ability to locate cases relating to a category such as false identifications/arrests, I ask that you inquire with department employees who would be knowledgeable about such cases in order to identify responsive documents.
2) Any responses from the city or settlement documents relating to cases responsive to the above aspect of this request.
3) A list, database, spreadsheet, or comparable document detailing each false arrest lawsuit brought against the law enforcement department(s) represented by the city's law department/legal representative since Jan. 1, 2018, including, where available, the name of the plaintiff, the name of the defendant, the court docket number, date filed, date settled/closed, settlement amount, and any other details available through the department's case management system.
I'm happy to discuss any aspect of this request, should further clarification be helpful.
I ask that all fees be waived as I am a journalist and I intend to use the requested records to publish articles in the public interest and not for any commercial purpose.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter.
I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 3 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Todd Feathers
From: City Clerk Of Atlanta
Good afternoon, Mr. Feathers.
I believe that the likely custodian of the records you are seeking, to the extent that they exist, will be the City of Atlanta Department of Law. Please contact the Department of Law directly at OpenRecords-Law@atlantaga.gov<mailto:OpenRecords-Law@atlantaga.gov>.
Best Regards,
Kristen Denius
Chief Transparency Officer
From: Todd Feathers
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Georgia Open Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
1) Copies of any notices of potential legal action (such as an intent to sue letter), formal legal complaints, or comparable documents sent to the city's law department/legal representative regarding cases of alleged misidentification by police facial recognition technology since Jan. 1, 2018. In the event the department does not have the record-keeping ability to locate cases relating to a category such as false identifications/arrests, I ask that you inquire with department employees who would be knowledgeable about such cases in order to identify responsive documents.
2) Any responses from the city or settlement documents relating to cases responsive to the above aspect of this request.
3) A list, database, spreadsheet, or comparable document detailing each false arrest lawsuit brought against the law enforcement department(s) represented by the city's law department/legal representative since Jan. 1, 2018, including, where available, the name of the plaintiff, the name of the defendant, the court docket number, date filed, date settled/closed, settlement amount, and any other details available through the department's case management system.
I'm happy to discuss any aspect of this request, should further clarification be helpful.
I ask that all fees be waived as I am a journalist and I intend to use the requested records to publish articles in the public interest and not for any commercial purpose.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter.
I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 3 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Todd Feathers
From: City Clerk Of Atlanta
Good afternoon, Mr. Feathers
The City of Atlanta Department of Law is in receipt of your request made under the Georgia Open Records Act, OCGA Sec. 50-18-70, et seq., sent via email on Monday, January 4, 2021 at 2:57 PM and contained in the email chain below. Please accept this response sent on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, as the City of Atlanta Department of Law's statutorily required response to your January 4, 2021 request.
In your January 4, 2021, you request the following records:
1) Copies of any notices of potential legal action (such as an intent to sue letter), formal legal complaints, or comparable documents sent to the city's law department/legal representative regarding cases of alleged misidentification by police facial recognition technology since Jan. 1, 2018. In the event the department does not have the record-keeping ability to locate cases relating to a category such as false identifications/arrests, I ask that you inquire with department employees who would be knowledgeable about such cases in order to identify responsive documents.
2) Any responses from the city or settlement documents relating to cases responsive to the above aspect of this request.
3) A list, database, spreadsheet, or comparable document detailing each false arrest lawsuit brought against the law enforcement department(s) represented by the city's law department/legal representative since Jan. 1, 2018, including, where available, the name of the plaintiff, the name of the defendant, the court docket number, date filed, date settled/closed, settlement amount, and any other details available through the department's case management system.
In regards to your request #1, the City of Atlanta Department of Law does not maintain its records in a manner which would permit it to identify any records responsive to your request. Accordingly, the City of Atlanta Department of Law cannot identify and such records. In regards to your request #2, as the City is not able to identify any records responsive to your request #1, the City is unable to identify any records responsive to your request #2. In regards to your request #3 the City of Atlanta does not have a document in its custody that is responsive to your request.
Thank you very much,
Amber A. Robinson
Senior Attorney
From: Todd Feathers
Hello Amber,
Thank you for the response. In regards to the search that you preformed for item #1: Were any inquiries made to employees who would have working knowledge of documents responsive to this request?
Thank you,
Todd
From: City Clerk Of Atlanta
Good morning,
Yes, appropriate inquiries were made.
Thank you,
Amber
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Georgia Open Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on . Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: City Clerk Of Atlanta
Good morning,