An agency may decline to acknowledge that requested records exist in response to a Freedom of Information Law request
Abdur-Rashid v NYC Police Department, 2018 NY Slip Op 02206, Court of Appeals
Hashmi v NYC Police Department, 2018 NY Slip Op 02206, Court of Appeals
The Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals described the issue presented in this appeal as follows: "May a public entity decline to acknowledge that requested records exist in response to a Freedom of Information Law request, Public Officers Law §84 et seq. [FOIL], when necessary to safeguard statutorily exempted information."
A majority of the court held that the public entity may, affirming the Appellate Division's determination.
The court was split, in whole or in part, in this important decision, with the opinion by Chief Judge DiFiore in which. Judges Fahey, Garcia and Feinman concur while Judge Wilson dissented in part in an opinion and Judge Stein dissented in an opinion in which Judge Rivera concurs, the full text of decision, including Judge Wilson's and Judge Stein's opinions, are posted on the Internet.
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