Emails around Laquan McDonald shooting and publication of autopsy
| Tracking # |
19-327 |
| Submitted | Jan. 18, 2019 |
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Communications
From: Brandon Smith
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act., I hereby request the following records:
Any and all emails between (to and from) any staff member of the medical examiner's office and any Cook County Commissioner, or any members of the staff of any Cook County Commissioner, between the dates October 20, 2014, and February 15, 2015.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
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 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Brandon Smith
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Illinois Freedom of Information Act. request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 18, 2019. 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: Cook County Medical Examiner's Office
February 5, 2019
Brandon Smith
MuckRock News
Email: requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>
Dear Mr. Smith,
The Office of the President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners is in receipt of your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act (the "Act").
On Tuesday, January 29, 2019 we received your request for "Any and all emails between (to and from) any staff member of the medical examiner's office and any Cook County Commissioner, or any members of the staff of any Cook County Commissioner, between the dates October 20, 2014, and February 15, 2015."
Under the Act, a public body may extend the time to respond to a request by up to five (5) business days for a limited number of reasons. 5 ILCS 140/3(e). We are extending the time to respond to your requests by five (5) business days because there is a need for consultation, which shall be conducted with all practicable speed, among two or more components of a public body having a substantial interest in the subject matter of the request. 5 ILCS 140/3(e)(vii).
Please note that Tuesday, February 12, 2019 is a Cook County holiday. We will respond to your request by Wednesday, February 13, 2019.
Thank you for your patience.
Rachel
[cid:image001.png@01CFDC92.32672470]
Rachel Dailey
Administrative Assistant V
Aide to Legal and Government Affairs | Office of the President
69 W. Washington, Suite 1415 | Chicago, IL 60602
(O) 312-603-0002
Rachel.Dailey@cookcountyil.gov<mailto:Rachel.Dailey@cookcountyil.gov>
PRIVILEGE AND CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail transmission, including all attachments, is confidential information belonging to the sender and the intended recipient, may be protected by the attorney-client privilege or attorney work product privilege, and may constitute non-public pre-decisional FOIA exempt information. This information is ONLY for the intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any unauthorized use, disclosure, distribution (electronic or otherwise), copying or the taking of any action in reliance on this information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please immediately notify the sender of receipt of the e-mail and then destroy all copies (electronic or otherwise) of the transmission and attachments. Receipt by an unintended recipient does not waive attorney-client privilege, attorney work product privilege or any other legal exemption from disclosure.)
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From: Cook County Medical Examiner's Office
February 13, 2019
Brandon Smith
MuckRock News
Email: requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>
Dear Mr. Smith,
The Office of the President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners is in receipt of your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act (the "Act").
On Tuesday, January 29, 2019 we received your request for "Any and all emails between (to and from) any staff member of the medical examiner's office and any Cook County Commissioner, or any members of the staff of any Cook County Commissioner, between the dates October 20, 2014, and February 15, 2015." Pursuant to section 3(e)(vii) of the Act, we extended the deadline to respond to your request, up to and including Wednesday, February 13, 2019.
Please be advised that your request, as written, is unduly burdensome and compliance with your request could not be completed without interfering with the daily operations of Cook County. We have identified 205 employees that worked for either the Medical Examiner's Office, the Board of Commissioners or the Board of Commissioners staff between October 20, 2014, and February 15, 2015 . Compliance with your request would require the County to search the email accounts of all 205 employees that may have emails responsive to your request. Any responsive emails would then need to be reviewed prior to release. These communications may include preliminary drafts, attorney communications, and other information that may be subject to redaction or exemption under the Act. The Office of the President has received over 450 FOIA requests since January 1, 2019 and we have two employees in the Office of the President that address and respond to FOIA requests. The County does not have the capacity to search for and review these communications and potential attachments for possible redactions without disrupting our daily operations and delaying other important work.
In accordance with section 3(g) of the Act, I ask that you contact me in order to discuss a reasonable reduction of your request.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you,
Rachel
[cid:image001.png@01CFDC92.32672470]
Rachel Dailey
Administrative Assistant V
Aide to Legal and Government Affairs | Office of the President
69 W. Washington, Suite 1415 | Chicago, IL 60602
(O) 312-603-0002
Rachel.Dailey@cookcountyil.gov<mailto:Rachel.Dailey@cookcountyil.gov>
PRIVILEGE AND CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail transmission, including all attachments, is confidential information belonging to the sender and the intended recipient, may be protected by the attorney-client privilege or attorney work product privilege, and may constitute non-public pre-decisional FOIA exempt information. This information is ONLY for the intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any unauthorized use, disclosure, distribution (electronic or otherwise), copying or the taking of any action in reliance on this information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please immediately notify the sender of receipt of the e-mail and then destroy all copies (electronic or otherwise) of the transmission and attachments. Receipt by an unintended recipient does not waive attorney-client privilege, attorney work product privilege or any other legal exemption from disclosure.)
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From: Brandon Smith
Hi, Rachel.
Thank you for your thoughtful response.
I'd like to limit my request to any email between the office of the Cook County Medical Examiner (that is, any staffer there) and the office of the Cook County board president, Toni Preckwinkle. That includes directly to/from Ms. Preckwinkle as well as any of her staff at the time of the sending. I request that you maintain the date range of my initial request.
Sincerely,
Brandon Smith
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Illinois Freedom of Information Act. request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 18, 2019. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #19-327.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Cook County Medical Examiner's Office
February 28, 2019
Dear Mr. Smith,
The Office of the President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners is in receipt of your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act (the "Act").
On Thursday, February 14, 2019 you limited your request to "any email between the office of the Cook County Medical Examiner (that is, any staffer there) and the office of the Cook County board president, Toni Preckwinkle. That includes directly to/from Ms. Preckwinkle as well as any of her staff at the time of the sending. I request that you maintain the date range of my initial request."
Please be advised that your request, as written, is still unduly burdensome and compliance with your request could not be completed without interfering with the daily operations of Cook County. We have identified 17 employees in the Office of the President and 120 employees in the Medical Examiner's Office that worked between October 20, 2014, and February 15, 2015. Compliance with your request would require the County to search the email accounts of all 137 employees to determine if there are emails responsive to your request. Any responsive emails would then need to be reviewed prior to release. These communications may include preliminary drafts, attorney communications, and other information that may be subject to redaction or exemption under the Act. The Office of the President has received over 450 FOIA requests since January 1, 2019 and we have two employees in the Office of the President that address and respond to FOIA requests. The County does not have the capacity to search for and review these communications and potential attachments for possible redactions without disrupting our daily operations and delaying other important work.
We are requesting that you limit your request to specific individuals in the Office of the President, as well as provide us with key words to search for.
In accordance with section 3(g) of the Act, I ask that you contact me in order to discuss a reasonable reduction of your request.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you,
Rachel
[cid:image001.png@01CFDC92.32672470]
Rachel Dailey
Administrative Assistant V
Aide to Legal and Government Affairs | Office of the President
69 W. Washington, Suite 1415 | Chicago, IL 60602
(O) 312-603-0002
Rachel.Dailey@cookcountyil.gov<mailto:Rachel.Dailey@cookcountyil.gov>
PRIVILEGE AND CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail transmission, including all attachments, is confidential information belonging to the sender and the intended recipient, may be protected by the attorney-client privilege or attorney work product privilege, and may constitute non-public pre-decisional FOIA exempt information. This information is ONLY for the intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any unauthorized use, disclosure, distribution (electronic or otherwise), copying or the taking of any action in reliance on this information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please immediately notify the sender of receipt of the e-mail and then destroy all copies (electronic or otherwise) of the transmission and attachments. Receipt by an unintended recipient does not waive attorney-client privilege, attorney work product privilege or any other legal exemption from disclosure.)
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From: Brandon Smith
Hi, Rachel.
With all due respect, I think you misunderstand how FOIA caselaw in Illinois works at the moment. Since you are in receipt of my request, *you* are almost certainly required to conduct a poll of the people working in the president's office at that time (since it's the smaller employee pool of the two) and ask, more or less, "did you have (or could you have had) any contact with the medical examiner's office on official business during this time period?" That's because I, as a citizen, could not be reasonably expected to know the names of the staffers of the Office of the President, nor their roles within the office.
Please advise me soon of your progress with this work, since the Illinois FOIA deadline has long since passed and I did not grant a formal extension.
I do intend to assert my full rights under Illinois law with this request, and this time, on an expedient timeline.
Best,
Brandon Smith
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Illinois Freedom of Information Act. request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 18, 2019. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #19-327.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Cook County Medical Examiner's Office
April 4, 2019
Mr. Smith,
Attached please find records responsive to your February 13, 2019 request.
The County has complied with your request for information. If you have any questions, or if there is anything else we can do for you, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thank you,
Rachel
[cid:image001.png@01CFDC92.32672470]
Rachel Dailey
Administrative Assistant V
Aide to Legal and Government Affairs | Office of the President
69 W. Washington, Suite 1415 | Chicago, IL 60602
(O) 312-603-0002
Rachel.Dailey@cookcountyil.gov<mailto:Rachel.Dailey@cookcountyil.gov>
PRIVILEGE AND CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail transmission, including all attachments, is confidential information belonging to the sender and the intended recipient, may be protected by the attorney-client privilege or attorney work product privilege, and may constitute non-public pre-decisional FOIA exempt information. This information is ONLY for the intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any unauthorized use, disclosure, distribution (electronic or otherwise), copying or the taking of any action in reliance on this information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please immediately notify the sender of receipt of the e-mail and then destroy all copies (electronic or otherwise) of the transmission and attachments. Receipt by an unintended recipient does not waive attorney-client privilege, attorney work product privilege or any other legal exemption from disclosure.)
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