Clerk Magistrates List
| Submitted | Dec. 2, 2014 |
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Communications
From: Mary Connaughton
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L. c.66, ยง10, I hereby request the following records:
A list of active Clerk-magistrates currently employed by the Massachusetts court system, including date of appointment and assigned court locality.
I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as we believe this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by the recommendations of the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.
I expect the request to be filled in an accessible format, including for screen readers, which provide text-to-speech for persons unable to read print. Files that are not accessible to screen readers include, for example, .pdf image files as well as physical documents.
In the event that fees cannot be waived, 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 10 calendar days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Mary Connaughton
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Dec. 2, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
From: Deborah L Propp
Ms. Connaughton -
I am writing in response to your request of December 2nd and
December 17th for a list of all "active Clerk-magistrates currently
employed by the Massachusetts court system, including date of appointment
and assigned court locality."
We cannot respond to this request for several reasons.
First, the state court system is not subject to the provisions of G.L. c.
66, sec. 10.
As well, you appear to be seeking information pertaining to other Trial
Court departments, while directing your request only to the Administrative
Office of the District Court, which is separately administered. We do not
keep such information as it regards other court departments. (The Boston
Municipal Court department also has Clerk-Magistrates. It is unclear
whether you are also asking about elected or appointed registers of court,
or elected Superior Court clerks, or if your inquiry is limited to the
District Court.)
Finally, we do not keep the information that you are seeking in a manner
that would allow us to send it, nor are we obligated under the presumptive
right of public access to judicial records to compile such a list in
response to your request. Some of the information that you are seeking
can be gained from the Trial Court's website, at www.mass.gov/courts,
although again, it does not appear in the format that you have requested.
We would appreciate having any future inquiries sent by regular mail.
This is our standard procedure, and we have no general e-mail mailbox
available to receive or answer inquiries. Additionally, I am certain that
I responded to a similar request from MuckRock a few months ago, but have
no way of locating that correspondence as it was not sent in the preferred
manner.
I am sorry that we cannot assist you.
From: Deborah L Propp
Ms. Connaughton,
I just wanted to mention that I was able to locate the earlier
request. It was from Ms. Beryl Lipton, from last July, and concerned a
different request, but also under the provisions of G.L. c. 66. I mention
this in the hope that there is some way for you to inform others at
MuckRock that this chapter does not apply to the court system or its
records.
Thank you.
Deborah Propp
_____
From: Massachusetts District Court
The request has been rejected, with the agency stating that the information or document(s) requested are exempt from disclosure.
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