"Free Palestine" emails

Good afternoon,

I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your request for records under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) dated November 14, 2023. I have been informed by the County to encourage the use of the FOIL System on the Public Records System, which can be accessed on the RCC website located here Freedom of Information Law Requests - Rockland Community College (sunyrockland.edu)<https://sunyrockland.edu/about/foil/>. If you can submit any future FOIL requests through this link they will be recorded in the Public Records System and I will receive notification.

In accordance with FOIL, I will advise you within twenty (20) business days if this Department maintains any records that are responsive to your request, and whether this Department will make the records available to you, deny you access to any such records or furnish you with a statement of the approximate date on which the request will be granted or denied.

Please be further advised that pursuant to Executive Order No. 94-2, as amended by Nos. 04-03 and No. 07-01, which outline the procedures for applications for access to records of the County under FOIL, you have the right to appeal a denial of an application to the Records Access Appeals Officer in the Office of the County Executive, County of Rockland, 11 New Hempstead Road, New City, New York 10956.

Virginia Meléndez, Ed.D. (she/ella)
Records Access Officer

Rockland Community College
845-574-4138 | Room 6205
Virginia.Melendez@sunyrockland.edu<mailto:Virginia.Melendez@sunyrockland.edu>

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Good afternoon,

I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your request for records under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) dated November 14, 2023. A copy of your FOIL request is available on the Public Records System.

More time is required to respond to your request. In accordance with FOIL, I will advise you on or before January 5, 2024, if this Agency maintains any records that are responsive to your request, and whether this Department will make the records available to you or deny you access to any such records. This extension is required due to the ease or difficulty in locating, retrieving or generating records, the complexity of the request and the need to review records to determine the extent to which they must be disclosed.

Virginia Meléndez, Ed.D. (she/ella)
Records Access Officer

Rockland Community College
845-574-4138 | Room 6205
Virginia.Melendez@sunyrockland.edu<mailto:Virginia.Melendez@sunyrockland.edu>

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Matthew Petti
Email: requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>

Re: Response to Request for Records Under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL)

Dear Matthew Petti:

Further to my previous emails dated November 20, 2023 and December 20, 2023, I am writing to respond to your request for records under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) dated November 14, 2023.

You have requested: "Emails sent to, received from, and/or CC'd to Dr. LaTouya Blount, Lester Rapalo, Clarke Osborne and/or Steven Marks containing one or more of the following non-case-sensitive keystrings: "Zionis", "from the river to the sea", "Palestin", "ADL", "IHRA", "antisemiti", "Hamas", "Gaza", "unity gathering". You may limit the search to the dates between October 12 and November 14, inclusive. If any of the emails contain attachments, please include those attachments as well."

This Department has conducted a search for the requested records. The search resulted in approximately 422 hits, which consist of emails plus attachments. In accordance with FOIL, to respond to your request, we will have to review each email and attachment individually to determine rights of access. We will provide responsive records to you on a rolling basis.

Attached please find the first set of responsive records, which are labeled as "FOIL E-Mail Binder1.pdf." We are continuing to evaluate the remaining records. We will provide you with our next response in fifteen (15) business days.
Very truly yours,

Virginia Melendez
Records Access Officer
Rockland County College

NOTICE PURSUANT TO 21 NYCRR 1401.7(b): If you received a denial to the above-referenced FOIL request, you have the right to appeal the denial to access the records within 30 days of the date of the denial by submitting an appeal via Rockland County's Public Records Center system or by mail to Michael Hoblin, FOIL Appeals Officer, Office of the County Executive, County of Rockland, 11 New Hempstead Road, New City, NY 10956. Phone Number: (845) 638-5122; Please note in accordance with 21 NYCRR 1401.5(a), all FOIL requests must be in writing.

Matthew Petti
Email: requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>

Re: Response to Request for Records Under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL)

Dear Matthew Petti:

Further to my previous emails dated November 20, 2023, December 20, 2023 and January 5, 2024, I am writing to respond to your request for records under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) dated November 14, 2023.

You have requested: "Emails sent to, received from, and/or CC'd to Dr. LaTouya Blount, Lester Rapalo, Clarke Osborne and/or Steven Marks containing one or more of the following non-case-sensitive keystrings: "Zionis", "from the river to the sea", "Palestin", "ADL", "IHRA", "antisemiti", "Hamas", "Gaza", "unity gathering". You may limit the search to the dates between October 12 and November 14, inclusive. If any of the emails contain attachments, please include those attachments as well."

Attached please find the second set of responsive records, which are labeled as "FOIL E-Mail Binder2.pdf." Public Officers Law § 87(2)(g) provides that an agency may deny access to records or portions thereof that are inter-agency or intra-agency materials which are not: (i) statistical or factual tabulations or data; (ii) instructions to staff that affect the public; (iii) final agency policy or determinations; or (iv) external audits, including but not limited to audits performed by the comptroller and the federal government. The purpose of the exemption is to "permit people within an agency to exchange opinions, advice and criticism freely and frankly, without the chilling prospect of public disclosure." Miller v. NYS Dept. of Transp., 58 A.D.3d 981, 984 (3d Dept. 2009) (citations and quotation marks omitted). The exemption applies to "records that are deliberative, i.e. communications exchanged for discussion purposes not constituting final policy decisions." Id. Therefore, responsive inter-agency and intra-agency records that are exempt from production have been redacted or withheld. See, e.g., New York State Committee on Open Government Advisory Opinion FOIL-AO 18986<https://docs.dos.ny.gov/coog/ftext/f18986.html>.
We are continuing to evaluate the remaining records. We will provide you with our next response in fifteen (15) business days.

Very truly yours,

Virginia Melendez
Records Access Officer
Rockland County College

NOTICE PURSUANT TO 21 NYCRR 1401.7(b): If you received a denial to the above-referenced FOIL request, you have the right to appeal the denial to access the records within 30 days of the date of the denial by submitting an appeal via Rockland County's Public Records Center system or by mail to Michael Hoblin, FOIL Appeals Officer, Office of the County Executive, County of Rockland, 11 New Hempstead Road, New City, NY 10956. Phone Number: (845) 638-5122; Please note in accordance with 21 NYCRR 1401.5(a), all FOIL requests must be in writing.

Matthew Petti
Email: requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>

Re: Response to Request for Records Under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL)

Dear Matthew Petti:

Further to my previous emails dated November 20, 2023, December 20, 2023 and January 5, 2024, I am writing to respond to your request for records under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) dated November 14, 2023.

You have requested: "Emails sent to, received from, and/or CC'd to Dr. LaTouya Blount, Lester Rapalo, Clarke Osborne and/or Steven Marks containing one or more of the following non-case-sensitive keystrings: "Zionis", "from the river to the sea", "Palestin", "ADL", "IHRA", "antisemiti", "Hamas", "Gaza", "unity gathering". You may limit the search to the dates between October 12 and November 14, inclusive. If any of the emails contain attachments, please include those attachments as well."

Attached please find the second set of responsive records, which are labeled as "FOIL E-Mail Binder3.pdf."

POL § 87(2)(a) provides that an agency may deny access to records or portions thereof that "are specifically exempted from disclosure by state or federal statute." Therefore, responsive records that are exempt from production have been redacted or withheld pursuant to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. § 1232(g).
Public Officers Law § 87(2)(f) provides that an agency "may deny access to records or portions thereof that ... if disclosed could endanger the life or safety of any person." This Agency maintains records responsive to your request, the production of the which would reveal sensitive information or the location of persons that could endanger their lives or safety. Accordingly, access to such portions of the responsive records has been denied, and the records have been redacted or withheld.

Public Officers Law § 87(2)(g) further provides that an agency may deny access to records or portions thereof that are inter-agency or intra-agency materials which are not: (i) statistical or factual tabulations or data; (ii) instructions to staff that affect the public; (iii) final agency policy or determinations; or (iv) external audits, including but not limited to audits performed by the comptroller and the federal government. The purpose of the exemption is to "permit people within an agency to exchange opinions, advice and criticism freely and frankly, without the chilling prospect of public disclosure." Miller v. NYS Dept. of Transp., 58 A.D.3d 981, 984 (3d Dept. 2009) (citations and quotation marks omitted). The exemption applies to "records that are deliberative, i.e. communications exchanged for discussion purposes not constituting final policy decisions." Id. Therefore, responsive inter-agency and intra-agency records that are exempt from production have been redacted or withheld. See, e.g., New York State Committee on Open Government Advisory Opinion FOIL-AO 18986<https://docs.dos.ny.gov/coog/ftext/f18986.html>.
We are continuing to evaluate the remaining records. We will provide you with our next response in fifteen (15) business days.

Very truly yours,

Virginia Melendez
Records Access Officer
Rockland County College

NOTICE PURSUANT TO 21 NYCRR 1401.7(b): If you received a denial to the above-referenced FOIL request, you have the right to appeal the denial to access the records within 30 days of the date of the denial by submitting an appeal via Rockland County's Public Records Center system or by mail to Michael Hoblin, FOIL Appeals Officer, Office of the County Executive, County of Rockland, 11 New Hempstead Road, New City, NY 10956. Phone Number: (845) 638-5122; Please note in accordance with 21 NYCRR 1401.5(a), all FOIL requests must be in writing.

Matthew Petti
Email: requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>

Re: Response to Request for Records Under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL)

Dear Matthew Petti:

Further to my previous emails dated November 20, 2023, December 20, 2023, January 5, 2024, and February 21, 2024, I am writing to respond to your request for records under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) dated November 14, 2023.

You have requested: "Emails sent to, received from, and/or CC'd to Dr. LaTouya Blount, Lester Rapalo, Clarke Osborne and/or Steven Marks containing one or more of the following non-case-sensitive keystrings: "Zionis", "from the river to the sea", "Palestin", "ADL", "IHRA", "antisemiti", "Hamas", "Gaza", "unity gathering". You may limit the search to the dates between October 12 and November 14, inclusive. If any of the emails contain attachments, please include those attachments as well."

Attached please find the fourth set and final batch of responsive records, which are labeled as "FOIL E-Mail Binder4.pdf."

POL § 87(2)(a) provides that an agency may deny access to records or portions thereof that "are specifically exempted from disclosure by state or federal statute." Therefore, responsive records that are exempt from production have been redacted or withheld pursuant to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. § 1232(g).
Public Officers Law § 87(2)(f) provides that an agency "may deny access to records or portions thereof that ... if disclosed could endanger the life or safety of any person." This Agency maintains records responsive to your request, the production of the which would reveal sensitive information or the location of persons that could endanger their lives or safety. Accordingly, access to such portions of the responsive records has been denied, and the records have been redacted or withheld.

Public Officers Law § 87(2)(g) further provides that an agency may deny access to records or portions thereof that are inter-agency or intra-agency materials which are not: (i) statistical or factual tabulations or data; (ii) instructions to staff that affect the public; (iii) final agency policy or determinations; or (iv) external audits, including but not limited to audits performed by the comptroller and the federal government. The purpose of the exemption is to "permit people within an agency to exchange opinions, advice and criticism freely and frankly, without the chilling prospect of public disclosure." Miller v. NYS Dept. of Transp., 58 A.D.3d 981, 984 (3d Dept. 2009) (citations and quotation marks omitted). The exemption applies to "records that are deliberative, i.e. communications exchanged for discussion purposes not constituting final policy decisions." Id. Therefore, responsive inter-agency and intra-agency records that are exempt from production have been redacted or withheld. See, e.g., New York State Committee on Open Government Advisory Opinion FOIL-AO 18986<https://docs.dos.ny.gov/coog/ftext/f18986.html>.
Very truly yours,

Virginia Melendez
Records Access Officer
Rockland County College

NOTICE PURSUANT TO 21 NYCRR 1401.7(b): If you received a denial to the above-referenced FOIL request, you have the right to appeal the denial to access the records within 30 days of the date of the denial by submitting an appeal via Rockland County's Public Records Center system or by mail to Michael Hoblin, FOIL Appeals Officer, Office of the County Executive, County of Rockland, 11 New Hempstead Road, New City, NY 10956. Phone Number: (845) 638-5122; Please note in accordance with 21 NYCRR 1401.5(a), all FOIL requests must be in writing.