Milwaukee Journal Sentinel et al vs. Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Dane County Case Number 2013CV001921

7/28/2019 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel et al vs. Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Dane County Case Number 2013C

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STATE OF WISCONSIN CIRCUIT COURTBRANCH -DANE COLINTY

MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL333 W. State StreetP.O. Box 661Milwaukee, WI 53201

andPATRICK MARLEYl0 E. Doty Street, #516Madison, WI53704,

Plaintiffs,v.

WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF HEALTHSERVICESOne West Wilson StreetMadison, WI 53703,Defendant.

Case No.Code No(s).30954

Case Classification No.:Other Extraordinary Writ

13CV1sZL

Ul,^-i:l rq) I!- '":= \a-. tj: L}s;(-)(= \iC) f\)C]

COMPLAINTThe plaintiffs in this enforcement action under Wisconsin's Open Records Law,

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Patrick Marley, by their attomeys, Godfrey & Kahn, S.C., fortheir claims under Wis. Stat. $ 19.37, allege that:

PARTIES1. The plaintiff, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (the "newspaper"), is engaged in the

business of disseminating news and information by publishing and distributing a dailynewspaper, and produces one of the most popular news destinations for Wisconsin Intemet users- j sonline.com .

Z. The plaintiff, Patrick Marley, is an adult resident of the State of Wisconsin and areporter for the newspaper in its Madison bureau.


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3. The defendant, Wisconsin Department of Ifealth Services ("DHS"), is an agencyof the State of Wisconsin, which maintains its principal place of business at One West WilsonStreet, Madison, WI 53703.

4. DHS is an "authority" as that term is defined in Wis. Stat. $ 19.32(l) and as usedin the Open Records Law, Wis. Stat. $$ 19-31-19-39'

FACTS5. On March 7,2013,the newspaper, through reporter Patrick Marley, requested in

writing under the Open Records Law that DHS produce "copies of all current contracts to housepeople on supervised release in the Chapter 980 program." A copy of Mr' Marley's e-mailrequest is attached to and incorporated in this Complaint as Exhibit A'

6. On May 9,2013,DHS produced redacted copies of 28 residential leaseagreements in response to Mr. Marley's request. DHS produced these records by e-mail, in PDFformat, from its Communications Director, Stephanie Smiley. A copy of Ms. Smiley's e-mailresponse is attached to and incorporated in this Complaint as Exhibit B'

7. Ms. Smiley's response e-mail states that "[p]ersonal information has beenredacted as necessary,, from the leases Mr. Marley requested, without defining "personalinformation" or explaining why DHS deemed its removal "necessary'" Id'

g. A review of the records produced by DHS indicates that the agency redacted fromeach lease the landlord,s name and address, along with the street address of the leased premises'For example, a copy of the redacted lease DHS produced for premises located in the city ofGreen Bay is attached to and incorporated in this Complaint as Exhibit C'

CLAIMg. Under the Open Records Law, Wis. Stat. $ 19.3i, it is the declared public policy

of this state that every citizenis entitled to the greatest possible information regarding the affairs

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of government. The statute affirms the presumption of complete public access to governmentrecords, consistent with the conduct of governmental business, and provides that "[t]he denial ofpublic access generally is contrary to the public interest, and only in an exceptional case mayaccess be denied." Wis. Stat. $ 19.31 . This is not an exceptional case.

10. DHS has violated the Open Records Law and its presumption of complete publicaccess to govemment records by denying, in part, the newspaper's request.

1 l. DHS failed to properly apply the Open Records Law's presumption of completepublic access because it gave no legally specific reason for redacting "personal information"from the leases produced in response to the newspaper's request.

12. There is no statutory exemption for the "personal information" DHS redactedfrom the leases produced in response to the newspaper's request.

13. There is no common law exception for the "personal information" DHS redactedfrom the leases produced in response to the newspaper'S request.

14. The representation that "[p]ersonal information has been redacted as necessary" isa legal conclusion, not a public policy reason claimed to outweigh the presumption that theinformation DHS redacted must be disclosed, upon request, under the Open Records Law'

15. The redaction of the address of the leased premises prevents the public fromevaluating whether or not DHS is paying fair-market rent under the lease contracts at issue.

16. The redaction of the landlord's namo prevents the public from evaluating whetheror not bias or favoritism is involved in awarding the lease contracts at issue.

17. DHS's actions have caused and will continue to cause injury to the plaintiffs inthat they deprive the newspaper and the rest of the public of their rights under the Open RecordsLaw.


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RELIEF REQUESTEDWHEREFORE, the plaintiffs demand judgment against the defendant under Wis. Stat.

$ 1e.37(1):A. Compelling DHS to forthwith produce for the plaintiffs a complete copy of the

leases at issue;B. Awarding the newspaper its reasonable attomeys fees, actual costs and nominal

damages under Wis. Stat. $ 19.37(2);C. Awarding such other relief as the Court deems just.Dated: f*" t\ ,2013.

GODFREY & KAHN, S.C.

Attorneys for Milwaukee Journal Sentineland Patrick MarleyP.O. ADDRESS:One East Main Street, Suite 500P.O.Box2719Madison, Wl53701-2719Phone: 608-257-3911Fax: [email protected]

State Bar NoI1006643


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From : Patrick Marley [ma ilto : [email protected]: Thursday, March 07,2013 8:07 PMTo: Smiley, Stephanie L - DHS; G-utlrie, Jacqueline A - DOCCc: Jason Stein; Patrick MarleySubject: Open records request re Chapter 980 program

Hi Stepharrie and Jackie:

Under the state's open records law, I am seeking copies of all current contracts to house people on supervisedrelease in the Chapter 980 Program

I understand Chapter 980 is jointly run by DOC and DHS, so I am not sure which agency is the custodian ofthese contracts. Could you please let me know which agency has them and provide them under the records law?

Let me know if you have any questions on this iequest. Thanls'

. Patrick Marley I State Capitol reporterMilwaukee Joumal Sentinel- - -"-g---6O8.?58.2262^"c. 608.235.7686e. [email protected]

http:lArnrrirr. isonline.com

hjt I LWA U K E E'w I s c 0 N 5 { *\tJSURNAT $nN?If\rEtjsontine.com


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From: Smiley, Stephanie L - DHS


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Documents

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel et al vs. Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Dane County Case Number 2013CV001921