Note: A version of this post originally appeared on the University at Buffalo School of Law website.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Represented by the Civil Rights & Transparency Clinic at the University at Buffalo School of Law, the New York Coalition for Open Government won a lawsuit against Niagara County that requires the release of years of financial disclosures of county officials.

On Sept. 10, 2020, Supreme Court Justice Frank Caruso invalidated Niagara County’s local laws that blocked potential financial conflicts from disclosure by elected officials since 1996.

Judge Caruso ordered the county to release all financial disclosures from Niagara County legislators since 2013. These documents contain information about elected officials’ businesses, investments, property and outside employment. Subject to public view for the first time in 24 years, the ruling allows the press and public to assess whether legislators have financial conflicts that may influence their decision-making.

“Niagara County legislators withheld these documents because they valued their own privacy over the public’s right to know. We’re pleased with the court’s ruling that validates our client’s long-held position that these were public documents that could not be kept secret,” said Michael Higgins, assistant director of the Civil Rights & Transparency Clinic, who argued the motion.

“We’re committed to bringing cases that law firms may not be able to accept,” said Heather Abraham, the clinic’s director. “For years, Niagara County was able to conceal potential financial conflicts of its elected officials, all because the average person does not have the time and money to challenge these laws in court. Our litigation realigns the power imbalance between the government and public citizens. We will continue to fight to promote government transparency in our region.”

The Civil Rights & Transparency Clinic is a litigation clinic at the University at Buffalo School of Law. Its mission is to advance justice through litigation and policy advocacy that protects civil rights and civil liberties, and makes government more transparent.

The clinic’s mission is supported by the Legal Clinic Fund, a collaborative fund that supports the growth and sustainability of legal clinics across the United States that seek to advance and defend first amendment rights, media freedom, and transparency in their communities and nationally. The fund is generously supported by Democracy Fund, Heising-Simons Foundation, and The Klarman Family Foundation. The Miami Foundation serves as fiscal sponsor for the fund.

The University at Buffalo School of Law Civil Liberties and Transparency Clinic, a Free Expression Legal Network member, successfully sued the Erie County Sheriff recently on behalf of the National Lawyers Guild Buffalo Chapter for access to the records of Buffalo’s local jails concerning suicide attempts by inmates.

The resulting records revealed that the sheriff, who runs the county’s jails, mischaracterized suicide attempts in the jails as “inmate disturbances” or “manipulative gestures.” This means that the jails failed to properly report suicide attempts to the state’s oversight commission, and the National Lawyers Guild argues it could frustrate attempts to prevent future suicides.

The clinic and the National Lawyers Guild won a near complete victory in the litigation, brought under New York’s Freedom of Information Law, in the trial court last fall. Among other things, the Court ordered the jail to turn over reports documenting incidents in the jails, internal policies and procedures, and relevant emails. As a result of the sheriff’s refusal to voluntarily release any documents, the clinic also won $27,000 in attorney’s fees.

The Sheriff’s Office has paid the attorney’s fees and produced many of the documents that were ordered released. It is appealing the lower court’s ruling, however, with respect to any emails.

The National Lawyers Guild argues that this appeal prevents it and the public from determining the full scope of the mischaracterization of suicide attempts in Buffalo’s jails. This issue is especially urgent because there has been a string of more than two dozen suicide deaths at the local jails in recent years, as The Buffalo News has written. More broadly, the jails have been cited as among the “worst offenders” for violations of state law by the state oversight commission.

A local reporter, Matt Spina, has covered the local jails for years. He assisted in this litigation by providing background on the jails’ past records practices and explaining the importance of the documents to the court. In an affidavit, Spina noted that it is “difficult or impossible to properly report stories” concerning local jails without the types of documents this lawsuit uncovered. The Buffalo News continues to publish stories about the litigation and also wrote an editorial strongly supporting the lawsuit and condemning the sheriff for appealing the order.

The clinic continues to represent the National Lawyers Guild in the appeal.