Following a four year battle concerning a phone directory from the Nassau County Police Department, during which the department ignored an order from a panel of judges to disclose the records, the county and department are now being held in contempt of court for a lack of transparency.
The inquiry into the department’s office directory began with a request from a Gothamist reporter in 2020, which was met with a refusal from Nassau, which argued that turning over the directory was an invasion of privacy.
Yet, the directory is only meant to contain work numbers and government email addresses.
The case is indicative of the limit of New York Freedom of Information Law, also known as FOIL, which allows people to make inquiries to government agencies for records, and is considered a classic symbol of open government.
Now, the county’s legal bill from the case is projected onto cost taxpayers in the amount of at least $100,000, according to the attorneys who brought the case.
The Nassau Police Department assigned three government lawyers to appear before a total of six judges as the case went through the county and state appellate courts. Reportedly, the department has been fined in the past for withholding records.
According to Nassau Supreme Court Judge Dawn Jimenez’s order, the county and department were called into contempt “based on their failure to comply with the Appellate Division’s decision and order.”
Nassau County and its police department have not yet commented on the case.
