FOIL access to governmental records does not depend on the purpose for which records are sought. This principle is established in which case?

FOIL access to governmental records does not depend on the purpose for which records are sought. This principle is established in which case?

• A. Gould v NYC Police
• B. Peckham v Calogero
• C. Open Meetings Law case
• D. Brown v Board of Education

Answer: (A)

Under FOIL, disclosure turns on whether the record itself is subject to disclosure and whether any exemption applies, not on what the requester plans to do with the information. This principle was established by Gould v. New York City Police Department, where the Court of Appeals held that a requester cannot be denied records simply because of the intended use of those records. The key idea is that the purpose of the request cannot justify withholding, as long as the material isn’t exempt. The other options relate to different topics (open meetings, broader constitutional education issues, or cases not about FOIL’s purpose-based rule), so they don’t establish this principle.

Under FOIL, disclosure turns on whether the record itself is subject to disclosure and whether any exemption applies, not on what the requester plans to do with the information. This principle was established by Gould v. New York City Police Department, where the Court of Appeals held that a requester cannot be denied records simply because of the intended use of those records. The key idea is that the purpose of the request cannot justify withholding, as long as the material isn’t exempt. The other options relate to different topics (open meetings, broader constitutional education issues, or cases not about FOIL’s purpose-based rule), so they don’t establish this principle.