THE STATE EX REL. SULTAANA v. MANSFIELD CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
No. 2022-0702
Supreme Court of Ohio
April 12, 2023
Slip Opinion No. 2023-Ohio-1177
[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it may be cited as State ex rel. Sultaana v. Mansfield Corr. Inst., Slip Opinion No. 2023-Ohio-1177.]
NOTICE
This slip opinion is subject to formal revision before it is published in an advance sheet of the Ohio Official Reports. Readers are requested to promptly notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of Ohio, 65 South Front Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215, of any typographical or other formal errors in the opinion, in order that corrections may be made before the opinion is published.
SLIP OPINION NO. 2023-OHIO-1177
THE STATE EX REL. SULTAANA v. MANSFIELD CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION.
[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it may be cited as State ex rel. Sultaana v. Mansfield Corr. Inst., Slip Opinion No. 2023-Ohio-1177.]
Mandamus—Public records—
(No. 2022-0702—Submitted January 10, 2023—Decided April 12, 2023.)
Per Curiam.
{¶ 1} This original action is brought under Ohio’s Public Records Act,
{¶ 2} For the reasons that follow, we grant the writ with respect to some of the requested records, grant a limited writ compelling the prison to produce additional requested records or to certify that no responsive records exist, and deny the writ with respect to the other requested records. We also deny Sultaana’s motions to transfer this case to the Ohio Court of Claims, to strike the prison’s merit brief, to seal or redact her own merit brief, and for statutory damages.
A. Nature of the records requests
{¶ 3} Sultaana frequently communicated with the prison warden’s office from September 2021 through June 2022, to request information and records regarding her son’s incarceration, with particular focus on assaults committed against him on June 9, September 15, and October 14, 2021. The following is a chronological list of Sultaana’s requests and the prison’s responses, the latter of which were sent to her by David Robinson, the warden’s administrative assistant:
- Request No. 1: On September 22, 2021, Sultaana requested the “names of the inmates and any other individuals or personnel” who were “involved in the * * * assault of [her] son” on March 15, 2021, and “approximately around 3 months ago”; medical reports related to those assaults; and information regarding “how these situations were handled and how these assailant[s] were punished.”
- Request No. 2: On October 7, Sultaana clarified that the assaults occurred on June 9 and September 15, 2021. She reiterated her initial requests and additionally requested the inmate numbers of the assailants.
- Request No. 3: On October 16, Sultaana requested the name and inmate number of an inmate who was housed with her son, copies of incident reports for all inmate assaults and fights, and incident reports for all inmate deaths caused by inmates or prison officials from February 2021 through October 16, 2021.
- Response No. 1: On October 22, Robinson sent Sultaana several types of incident reports, with minor redactions, including redactions of the names and inmate numbers of the assailants. He also provided a medical report and an emergency assessment, with the entire substance of those documents redacted under
R.C. 5120.21(C) . - Request No. 4: On October 25, Sultaana told Robinson that his response was not complete, because she had received documents related to only the September assault. For the first time, she requested records regarding an assault against her son that occurred on October 14, 2021 (the third assault).
- Response No. 2: On November 10, Robinson sent Sultaana four redacted records related to the June 9 assault—an incident report, a medical report, a report notifying the Ohio State Highway Patrol (“OSHP”) of the assault, and a conduct report for the inmate who assaulted her son. He explained that “institution information” had been redacted under
R.C. 149.433 and this court’s decision in McDougald v. Greene, 162 Ohio St.3d 250, 2020-Ohio-4268, 165 N.E.3d 261; that the medical records were redacted underR.C. 149.43(A)(1)(a) andR.C. 5120.21(C) ; and that “inmate information” was redacted underR.C. 5120.21(F) . - Request No. 5: On November 16, Sultaana told Robinson that the records provided to her regarding the June 9 assault were incomplete and that she had not received any documents regarding the October 14 assault.
- Response No. 3: On November 17, Robinson informed Sultaana that she had received all the records responsive to her requests that were not subject to statutory exceptions and that he considered her public-records requests closed.
- Request No. 6: On November 17, Sultaana objected to the closure of her public-records request, because she had not
received any documents related to the October 14 assault. She also requested the full legal name of and disciplinary information about the assailant in the June assault, whom she identified as former inmate “Gage”; reiterated her request for her son’s medical records regarding that assault; and requested her son’s dental records. - Response No. 4: On November 22, Robinson again informed Sultaana that she had received all the records responsive to her requests.
- Request No. 7: On June 6, 2022, Sultaana requested security-video footage of the June 9 and September 15 assaults and information regarding her son’s protective-control status and “last security review.”
- Response No. 5: On June 24, Robinson informed Sultaana that the prison had no security-video footage responsive to her request and that information regarding her son’s protective-control status and last security review were exempt from disclosure under
R.C. 5120.21(F) .
{¶ 4} Although Sultaana requested many records from the prison, her claim here is limited to three types of records regarding the assaults against her son: (1) incident reports, (2) conduct reports and dispositions, and (3) security-video footage.
B. Course of proceedings and evidence submitted by the parties
{¶ 5} In June 2022, Sultaana filed a complaint for a writ of mandamus in this court. She thereafter submitted five evidentiary filings, consisting of (1) documents the prison had provided her regarding the June 9 assault, (2) an affidavit from her son, in which he avers that he had provided Sultaana with a power of attorney over him and authorization for the disclosure of his protected health information to her, (3) a second affidavit from her son, in which he alleges that prison officials had tampered with records to conceal evidence of the June assault on him, (4) copies of Sultaana’s September 22, 2021 public-records request and a grievance her son had filed against the prison’s warden, and (5) two affidavits executed by Sultaana detailing her son’s accounts of the assaults, an alleged plot to murder him, an alleged coverup by the prison, and a fourth assault on him.
{¶ 6} In August 2022, this court granted an alternative writ and set a schedule for the parties to submit evidence and briefs. 167 Ohio St.3d 1489, 2022-Ohio-2788, 193 N.E.3d 560.
{¶ 7} Thereafter, Sultaana submitted additional evidence, consisting primarily of her own affidavit. She avers in the affidavit that she requested public records from the prison on numerous occasions by phone, fax, email, and U.S. priority mail. She further avers that the prison informed her that it did not have the requested records, failed to “acknowledge[] specific records” she had requested, and “failed to send correct accurate legal records.” Sultaana also submitted a statement of her intent to rely on the prison’s evidentiary filings to establish her claim.
{¶ 8} The prison filed an affidavit from Robinson, two volumes of evidence that contain correspondence between Sultaana and the prison from September 22, 2021, through June 24, 2022, including copies of the records provided in response to Sultaana’s public-records requests. The prison also submitted a telephone log summarizing most of Robinson’s conversations with Sultaana about the requests.
II. PRELIMINARY MATTERS
A. Motion to transfer this case to the Court of Claims
{¶ 9} Sultaana has filed an unopposed motion to transfer this case to the
{¶ 10}
B. Amended emergency motion to strike respondent’s brief
{¶ 11} Sultaana has filed an unopposed amended motion to strike the prison’s merit brief for failure to comply with S.Ct.Prac.R. 16.02 and 16.03. She submits that the prison’s brief does not include a statement of the facts or identify such a statement in its table of contents.
{¶ 12} S.Ct.Prac.R. 12.07(A) states that merit briefs in an original action shall conform to the requirements set forth in S.Ct.Prac.R. 16.01 through 16.10. S.Ct.Prac.R. 16.02(B)(3) requires a relator’s merit brief to include a statement of the facts with supporting references to the record, and S.Ct.Prac.R. 16.02(B)(1) requires the brief to include a table of contents identifying the location of the statement of the facts. While a respondent’s brief is generally held to the same requirements as a relator’s brief, see S.Ct.Prac.R. 16.03(B)(1), “[a] statement of facts may be omitted from the [respondent’s] brief if the [respondent] agrees with the statement of facts given in the [relator’s] merit brief,” S.Ct.Prac.R. 16.03(B)(2).
{¶ 13} Although we have recognized that “a substantial disregard of the whole body of the [rules of practice] cannot be tolerated,” Drake v. Bucher, 5 Ohio St.2d 37, 40, 213 N.E.2d 182 (1966), we have declined to strike a brief when its shortcomings have not prejudiced the opposing party’s ability to file a responsive brief or hindered this court’s ability to decide the case, see State ex rel. Physicians Commt. for Responsible Medicine v. Ohio State Univ. Bd. of Trustees, 108 Ohio St.3d 288, 2006-Ohio-903, 843 N.E.2d 174, ¶ 14. Here, the prison has included in its brief an introduction section setting forth the operative facts of this case with citations to the record and has identified the location of that introduction in the brief’s table of contents. Because the technical shortcomings of the prison’s brief have not hindered Sultaana’s ability to file a reply brief or this court’s ability to decide the case, we deny Sultaana’s motion to strike.
C. Emergency motion to seal or redact merit brief’s statement of the facts
{¶ 14} Sultaana has filed an unopposed emergency motion to seal her own merit brief or to have its statement of the facts removed from public view. She cites no legal authority to support her motion and states only that public access to the filing will “cause additional harm” to her son while he is in prison.
{¶ 15} Documents filed in a court are presumed to be public records open to public access. Sup.R. 45(A); S.Ct.Prac.R. 3.02(A)(1). “Public access” means both direct access at the place where the record is made available and remote access through electronic means at a location other
{¶ 16} A court is required to restrict public access to a document or information in it when the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the presumption of public access is outweighed by a higher interest, after considering (1) whether restricting access will serve public policy, (2) whether any state, federal, or common law exempts the document or information from public access, and (3) other factors, including any risk of injury to persons, individual privacy rights and interests, public safety, and the fairness of the adjudicatory process. Sup.R. 45(E)(2)(a) through (c). If a court determines that it is necessary to restrict access to a document or information in the document, Sup.R. 45(E)(3) directs the court to use the least restrictive means available and suggests methods such as redacting information, restricting only remote access, or restricting public access for a limited time.
{¶ 17} In her merit brief, Sultaana states that her son engaged in activities while in prison that caused other inmates to grow suspicious of and spread rumors about him. Sultaana says that her son’s security level was then reduced and that he was assaulted before being illegally held in the Transitional Program Unit for nearly nine months. Such allegations also appear, albeit less prominently, in the materials she filed with her mandamus complaint and with her motion for statutory damages, which have been publicly available online since June 2022. They also appear at least 13 times in the prison’s evidence.
{¶ 18} Public access to Sultaana’s statements regarding her son’s alleged activities may well pose a danger to him in prison. However, if Sultaana’s account of the reasons for the three assaults involved in this case is true, information about her son’s activities has already been available to the prison population through other sources. Therefore, sealing Sultaana’s brief in this case or redacting information in it regarding those activities will not afford her son any protection. We therefore deny Sultaana’s motion to seal or redact her brief.
III. ANALYSIS OF SULTAANA’S WRIT CLAIM
A. Legal standard
{¶ 19}
{¶ 20} “Mandamus is [an] appropriate remedy to compel compliance with
{¶ 21} We construe the Public Records Act liberally in favor of broad access and resolve any doubts in favor of disclosure of public records. State ex rel. Cincinnati Enquirer v. Hamilton Cty., 75 Ohio St.3d 374, 376, 662 N.E.2d 334 (1996). “The primary duty of a public office when it has received a public-records request is to promptly provide any responsive records within a reasonable amount of time and when a records request is denied, to inform the requester of that denial and provide the reasons for that denial.
“Exceptions to disclosure under the Public Records Act are strictly construed against the public-records custodian, and the custodian has the burden to establish the applicability of an exception.” State ex rel. Miller v. Ohio State Hwy. Patrol, 136 Ohio St.3d 350, 2013-Ohio-3720, 995 N.E.2d 1175, ¶ 23. To satisfy that burden, the prison must prove that the requested records “fall squarely within the exception,” State ex rel. Cincinnati Enquirer v. Jones-Kelley, 118 Ohio St.3d 81, 2008-Ohio-1770, 886 N.E.2d 206, paragraph two of the syllabus.
B. The prison has failed to prove that the names and inmate numbers of the alleged assailants fall squarely within an exception to the Public Records Act
{¶ 22} Sultaana’s complaint and the letters attached thereto show that she requested at least ten types of records from the prison regarding events that occurred while her son was incarcerated at the prison. But in her merit brief, Sultaana has narrowed the scope of her requests to three types of records: (1) incident reports for the June, September, and October 2021 assaults against her son, (2) conduct reports and dispositions pertaining to all three assaults, and (3) security-video footage of the assaults.1 See HealthSouth Corp. v. Levin, 121 Ohio St.3d 282, 2009-Ohio-584, 903 N.E.2d 1179, ¶ 18, fn. 2 (“the omission of an argument from a party’s brief may be deemed to waive that argument”), citing E. Liverpool v. Columbiana Cty. Budget Comm., 116 Ohio St.3d 1201, 2007-Ohio-5505, 876 N.E.2d 575, ¶ 3.
{¶ 23} In her affidavit, Sultaana avers that she requested numerous public records regarding the three assaults and that she communicated with prison officials by phone, fax, and email. She states that prison officials informed her numerous times that they did not have the records she had requested and that they “never
acknowledged specific records [she] was requesting and failed to send correct accurate legal records that [she] requested.”
{¶ 24} The prison interpreted Sultaana’s requests for information, including the requests for the names and inmate numbers of the inmates who assaulted her son, as requests for incident and conduct reports for the June and September 2021 assaults. In response to those requests, the prison produced one conduct report for the June assault and three types of incident reports: (1) incident reports prepared by prison staff members regarding both assaults, containing descriptions of the incidents and the actions taken, (2) OSHP notification
{¶ 25} Sultaana argues that the prison’s responses to her requests are incomplete because the identities of the inmates who assaulted her son were redacted. “A redaction shall be deemed a denial of a request to inspect or copy the redacted information, except if federal or state law authorizes or requires a public
office to make the redaction.”
{¶ 26} In this case, the prison asserts that the redacted information identifying the assailants is exempt from the Public Records Act as (1) confidential law-enforcement investigatory records (“CLEIR”) under
1. The names and inmate numbers of the inmates involved in the assaults are not exempt from disclosure under the CLEIR exception
{¶ 27} Routine offense and incident reports, which are form-reports in which the person completing the form enters information in the spaces provided, are not exempt confidential law-enforcement work product and are normally subject to immediate release on request. State ex rel. Lanham v. Smith, 112 Ohio St.3d 527, 2007-Ohio-609, 861 N.E.2d 530, ¶ 13, citing State ex rel. Steckman v. Jackson, 70 Ohio St.3d 420, 639 N.E.2d 83 (1994), paragraph five of the syllabus, overruled on other grounds by State ex rel. Caster v. Columbus, 151 Ohio St.3d 425, 2016-Ohio-8394, 89 N.E.3d 598. Moreover,
{¶ 29} This court has clarified that in Maurer, it “did not adopt a per se rule that all police offense-and-incident reports are subject to disclosure notwithstanding the applicability of any exemption,” State ex rel. Beacon Journal Publishing Co. v. Akron, 104 Ohio St.3d 399, 2004-Ohio-6557, 819 N.E.2d 1087, ¶ 55 (holding that police incident reports may be redacted to eliminate personal information concerning a child rape victim), superseded by statute on other grounds as stated in State ex rel. DiFranco v. S. Euclid, 138 Ohio St.3d 367, 2014-Ohio-538, 7 N.E.3d 1136. Indeed, “[e]ven the information that is included in an incident-report form may, in a proper case, be redacted under a public-records exception other than the specific-investigatory-work-product exception in
{¶ 30} Here, the prison has submitted as evidence the OSHP notification reports for the June and September assaults, which identify Sultaana’s son as the “victim” and the inmate whose name is redacted as the “suspect.” But it has not submitted any evidence to support its claim that any suspects named in those reports
remain uncharged. This bare allegation in the prison’s brief is insufficient to carry the prison’s burden of proving that the uncharged-suspect exception applies to the facts of this case. See State ex rel. Natl. Broadcasting Co. v. Cleveland, 82 Ohio App.3d 202, 208, 611 N.E.2d 838 (8th Dist.1992).
2. The inmate names and inmate numbers are not exempt from disclosure as records of inmates under R.C. 5120.21(A) and (F)
{¶ 31}
{¶ 32} In State ex rel. Mobley v. Ohio Dept. of Rehab. & Corr., 169 Ohio St.3d 39, 2022-Ohio-1765, 201 N.E.3d 853, an inmate had requested parts of his “inmate master file” pertaining to the charges and decisions in disciplinary proceedings against him and all kites pertaining to him. Id. at ¶ 2-3. DRC asserted that those records were exempt from public-records disclosure as “records of inmates” under
reasoning that the term “records of inmates” as used in that statute “logically refers to the records mentioned elsewhere in
3. The prison has not carried its burden of proving that the inmate names and inmate numbers at issue in this case are exempt from disclosure as confidential information pertaining to groups that pose a security threat under R.C. 5120.21(D)(6)
{¶ 33} The prison argues that the inmate names and inmate numbers it redacted from the incident and conduct reports are exempt from disclosure under
{¶ 34} We have held that when the applicability of a public-records exemption is not readily apparent from the content of the record, the records custodian must provide “specific factual support that goes beyond mere conclusory statements in an affidavit to show that the record sought falls squarely within the prescribed exception.” Welsh-Huggins, 163 Ohio St.3d 337, 2020-Ohio-5371, 170 N.E.3d 768, at ¶ 50. But in McDougald, 162 Ohio St.3d 250, 2020-Ohio-4268, 165 N.E.3d 261, we determined that the relevance of prison shift-assignment duty rosters to the security of a prison was apparent from the face of the documents and
held that the records qualified as security records for the purposes of the Public Records Act. Id. at ¶ 9. We reasoned that “at least when the applicability of the exemption is obvious from the face of the documents, this court will not sacrifice those interests simply because a party should have done a better job setting forth the obvious.” Id. at ¶ 13.
{¶ 35} In this case, the applicability of the security-threat exemption is not obvious from the records themselves, and the prison has not presented any evidence supporting its decision to redact the inmate names and inmate numbers as information pertaining to groups that pose a security threat. The only evidence in the record that might support a finding that the security-threat exemption applies is (1) Sultaana’s assertion that one of her son’s assailants was a member of a gang, (2) the prison’s “Enterprise Information Management Incident Reporting” stating that a
{¶ 36} Construing the Public Records Act liberally in favor of broad access and resolving any doubts in favor of disclosure, we grant a writ of mandamus compelling the prison to produce unredacted copies of the incident reports regarding the June and September 2021 assaults and the conduct report regarding the June 2021 assault.
C. The prison has not carried its burden of proving that no other incident or conduct reports exist that are responsive to Sultaana’s requests
{¶ 37} Sultaana has presented evidence that on September 22, 2021, she requested information regarding the identities of the inmates who assaulted her son
in June and September 2021. She reiterated that request in her October 7 and 25 letters to the prison, the latter of which also requested public records related to a third assault that occurred on October 14, 2021, and any disciplinary action resulting from the three assaults.
{¶ 38} On October 26, Robinson acknowledged receipt of Sultaana’s October 25 request—though he did not say what he thought the request entailed. He avers in his affidavit that this was “a duplicative request.” On November 4, he informed Sultaana that the request had been “sent to ODRC Legal for review of documents pertaining to the request.” On November 10, Robinson sent Sultaana redacted documents related to the June assault. Sultaana then informed Robinson that the records related to the June assault were incomplete and that she was still waiting for records regarding the October assault. Without ever acknowledging that Sultaana had requested records regarding the October assault, Robinson emailed Sultaana to inform her that she had “received all responsive records, subject to the exceptions in accord with
{¶ 39} Sultaana asserts, and the evidence submitted by the prison shows, that the prison has not provided any incident or conduct reports regarding the October 2021 assault or any conduct reports regarding the September 2021 assault—even though those documents, if they exist, are public records. Sultaana further asserts that the prison has not provided any records regarding the outcome of the disciplinary charges referred to in the conduct report related to the June assault.
{¶ 40} In State ex rel. McDougald v. Greene, 160 Ohio St.3d 82, 2020-Ohio-2782, 153 N.E.3d 75, ¶ 9, we held that the relator in that case was not entitled to a writ of mandamus to compel the production of public records he had requested, because the records custodian “ha[d] provided an affidavit claiming that the records d[id] not exist” and the relator “ha[d] not done anything to rebut that affidavit so as
to clearly show that the documents exist[ed] and hence that he [had] a right to them.” In this case, the only evidence that the prison has submitted to establish that no other responsive records exist is Robinson’s affidavit, in which he avers, “I informed [Sultaana] that all responsive records had been sent to her.” (Emphasis added.) But that averment only supports what Robinson told Sultaana—not that what he told her
{¶ 41} Sultaana, on the other hand, has submitted her son’s affidavit, in which he avers that he was assaulted in his prison cell on October 14, 2021. That affidavit alone may not constitute clear and convincing evidence that incident or conduct reports exist regarding the assault, but it does constitute some evidence that an assault against him occurred at the prison on that date. Moreover, the evidence submitted by the prison demonstrates that when an assault occurs, the prison prepares one or more types of incident reports. In fact,
{¶ 42} Furthermore,
against an inmate involved in the assaults on Sultaana’s son, those records and the resulting disciplinary decisions are public records subject to disclosure.
{¶ 43} It is unclear from the record whether any incident reports regarding the alleged October assault, conduct reports regarding the September or October assaults, or any disciplinary decisions arising from the June, September, or October assaults exist. If such records do exist, they are public records and Sultaana is entitled to them. We therefore grant a limited writ of mandamus ordering the prison to produce those records or to certify that no such records exist. See, e.g., State ex rel. Harris v. Pureval, 155 Ohio St.3d 343, 2018-Ohio-4718, 121 N.E.3d 337 (issuing a limited writ of mandamus under similar circumstances). Because the prison has failed to carry its burden of proving that the names and inmate numbers of the alleged assailants fall squarely within an exception to the Public Records Act, that information shall not be redacted from any records produced.
D. Sultaana has failed to present any evidence tending to show that the prison possesses security-video footage responsive to her public-records request
{¶ 44} The evidence shows that on June 6, 2022, Sultaana requested security-video footage of the June and September 2021 assaults on her son. Sultaana asserts that under State ex rel. Rogers v. Dept. of Rehab. & Corr., 155 Ohio St.3d 545, 2018-Ohio-5111, 122 N.E.3d 1208, the prison is required to produce security-video footage of the assaults absent a showing that the video falls within an exemption under
{¶ 45} In a June 24 email, Robinson informed Sultaana that the prison has no records responsive to her security-video-footage
Sultaana has not presented any evidence or argument to rebut Robinson’s averment or otherwise demonstrate that the requested footage exists. See McDougald, 160 Ohio St.3d 82, 2020-Ohio-2782, 153 N.E.3d 75, at ¶ 9. We therefore deny her request for a writ of mandamus as to the security-video footage.
IV. STATUTORY DAMAGES
{¶ 46} Sultaana seeks statutory damages for the prison’s failure to comply with the Public Records Act.
{¶ 47}
{¶ 48} A relator seeking statutory damages must prove the method of delivery by clear and convincing evidence. See State ex rel. Martin v. Greene, 156 Ohio St.3d 482, 2019-Ohio-1827, 129 N.E.3d 419, ¶ 9. In the absence of proof of delivery by one of the methods authorized by
{¶ 49} The evidence demonstrates that Sultaana submitted her requests by facsimile transmission, which is not an authorized method of delivery for purposes of
submission” [emphasis added]). Therefore, Sultaana is not entitled to statutory damages.
V. CONCLUSION
{¶ 50} Based on the foregoing, we deny Sultaana’s motions to transfer this case to the Court of Claims, to strike respondent’s merit brief, and to seal or redact her own merit brief. We also grant Sultaana a writ of mandamus compelling the prison to produce the incident and conduct reports it has already provided to Sultaana regarding the June and September 2021 assaults on her son, without redaction of the names and inmate numbers of the inmates involved in the assaults. In addition, we grant a limited writ of mandamus ordering the prison to produce any incident reports regarding the alleged October 2021 assault on her son, conduct reports regarding the September and October 2021 assaults, and any disciplinary decisions arising from the June, September, or October 2021 assaults or to certify that no such records exist. We deny Sultaana’s claim for a writ of mandamus regarding her request for security-video footage. And we deny Sultaana’s request for statutory damages.
Writ granted in part and denied in part.
KENNEDY, C.J., and FISCHER, DEWINE, DONNELLY, STEWART, BRUNNER, and DETERS, JJ., concur.
Amirah Sultaana, pro se.
Dave Yost, Attorney General, and John H. Bates, Assistant Attorney General, for respondent.