When most people think about Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests being utilized to expose wrongdoing in government, they think of journalists and news organizations exposing corruption, discrimination or waste. However, as discussed in our recent blog, there are many different types of organizations and entities that utilize FOIA to hold government agencies accountable, including educational institutions and researchers. A recent lawsuit filed by researchers at Stanford University and the University of Oregon School of Law against the California prison system illustrates the challenges that academic institutions can face when attempting to obtain records through FOIA.
The researchers at Stanford and Oregon have been conducting a study of parole decisions in California to determine if any of the parole denials were improperly influenced by factors that should not have been considered, such as race or ethnicity. The goal of the project is to create an artificial-intelligence system to canvass parole denials and flag any that fit the criteria for potential undue influence, which could then allow those individuals to be reconsidered for parole. In order for the system to work, the researchers would need to know the race and ethnicity of each of the parole applicants.
After an extensive back-and-forth, lasting over a year, between the requesters and the Board of Parole Hearings, the researchers were provided with some data, but not the crucial race and ethnicity data needed for their system. The parole board argued California public records law exempted the disclosure of personnel or medical files, which they claimed covered race and ethnicity. The lawsuit filed against the parole board, however, argued that the request was denied because one of the researchers involved had previously published a study that found race and other illegitimate factors accounted for a “considerable degree of variability” in decisions by the California parole board.
This case could set a precedent for race and ethnicity data either being included or exempted under California Public Records Act law. Stay tuned.