You are here: / / THE FORMER EXEMPTION FROM A FOIL REQUEST FOR POLICE DISCIPLINARY RECORDS...
,

THE FORMER EXEMPTION FROM A FOIL REQUEST FOR POLICE DISCIPLINARY RECORDS WAS REPEALED IN 2020; THE REPEAL APPLIES RETROACTIVELY SUCH THAT DISCIPLINARY RECORDS CREATED PRIOR TO THE REPEAL ARE NO LONGER EXEMPT (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, affirming the Appellate Division, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Halligan, determined that the repeal of the exemption from a FOIL request for police disciplinary records applies retroactively to documents created before the repeal:

… [W]e conclude that the Legislature intended for the statutory repeal to have retroactive effect. For starters, there is no indication that the repeal was intended to affect the usual manner in which FOIL operates. FOIL requires agencies to “make available for public inspection and copying all records” (Public Officers Law § 87 [2]), and it defines “records” with reference to whether an agency possesses information, but without reference to the date the information was created (id. § 86 [4] [defining “record” as “any information kept” or “held . . . in any physical form whatsoever”]). The amendments impose various redaction requirements and personal privacy protections for law enforcement disciplinary records specifically, yet they do not, for example, single out records created before a certain date for special treatment, or direct that disclosure of any record is tethered to the date it was created. Had the Legislature intended to deviate from FOIL’s presumption that information kept or held by an agency is disclosable by exempting records created prior to the repeal, or to mandate that an agency responding to a FOIL request ascertain and apply the law that governed when each responsive record was created, then surely it would have said as much. Matter of NYP Holdings, Inc. v New York City Police Dept., 2025 NY Slip Op 01009, CtApp 2-20-25

Practice Point: The exemption from a FOIL request for police disciplinary records was repealed in 2020. The repeal applies retroactively to police disciplinary records created prior to the repeal.

 

You might also like
Proof Sufficient to Support Unlawful Surveillance Conviction/Defendant Was Standing on the Front Door Step Videotaping Woman Inside
Attorney Conflict Waiver Criteria Discussed/Whether Molineux Analysis Should Be Applied to “Prior Bad Thoughts” in Journal Entries Discussed
Evidence of Defendant’s Silence at the Time of Arrest Should Not Have Been Allowed—New Trial Ordered
THE SEARCH OF DEFENDANT-PAROLEE’S RESIDENCE WAS “RATIONALLY AND REASONABLY RELATED TO THE PERFORMANCE OF THE PAROLE OFFICER’S DUTY” AND THEREFORE DENIAL OF THE MOTION TO SUPPRESS THE WEAPON FOUND IN THE RESIDENCE WAS PROPER (CT APP).
HAPPY, AN ELEPHANT IN THE BRONX ZOO, IS NOT A “PERSON” ENTITLED TO THE PROTECTION OF A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS; THE PETITION SOUGHT HAPPY’S TRANSFER TO AN ELEPHANT SANCTUARY; TWO DISSENTS (CT APP).
The Prevailing Wage Statute Applies To All Work Reasonably Interpreted to Be Covered by the Statute—The Fact that the Application of the Statute Is Unsettled At the Time the Public Works Contract Is Entered Does Not Allow the Employer to Escape Its Reach Once the Law Is Settled
DEFENSE COUNSEL SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TWO CROSS-EXAMINE THE TWO POLICE OFFICERS WHO IDENTIFIED THE DEFENDANT AS THE SHOOTER ABOUT ALLEGATIONS OF THE OFFICERS’ DISHONESTY ARISING FROM OTHER COURT PROCEEDINGS (CT APP).
Police Officers Properly Allowed to Testify About Victim’s Identification of Defendant Shortly After the Crime/Prior Consistent Statements Not Hearsay

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

MAJORITY: THE DEFENDANT’S WAIVER OF PARTICIPATION IN THE SHOCK INCARCERATION... THE FOIL PERSONAL PRIVACY EXEMPTION DOES NOT PROVIDE A BLANKET EXEMPTION FOR...