Posts Tagged High School
Public policy favors release of police report.
The state Supreme Court has found that a teacher’s interest in protecting his reputation does not outweigh the public’s interest in the release of information about a police investigation of that teacher.
The July 2 decision in Linzmeyer v. Forcey, 01-0197, highlights the importance of balancing open records interests against public policy interests favoring nondisclosure of a police report. The six-person majority decision, written by Justice Jon P. Wilcox with Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson concurring, held that the circuit court was correct in ordering the report’s release.
“We hold that the open records law applies to the report in this case and there is thus a strong presumption in favor of release,” Wilcox wrote. “Additionally, we hold that the presumption was not overridden in this case by the public interest in protecting Linzmeyer’s privacy and reputation.”
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