A federal judge has overruled the District of Columbia鈥檚 attempt to toss a lawsuit claiming that, at his former job, Prince William County Police Chief Peter 小萝莉影视ham created a 鈥渨atchlist鈥� of lawyers, activists and journalists whose requests for public records would be delayed or denied.
Prince William County Police Chief Peter 小萝莉影视ham. (Courtesy InsideNova/Nolan Stout)
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A federal judge has overruled the District of Columbia鈥檚 attempt to toss a lawsuit claiming that, at his former job, Prince William County Police Chief Peter 小萝莉影视ham created a 鈥渨atchlist鈥� of lawyers, activists and journalists whose requests for public records would be delayed or denied.
Judge James Boasberg denied the district鈥檚 request to dismiss the lawsuit filed by attorney Amy Phillips. The suit claimed that 小萝莉影视ham, as chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, designated people whose requests would receive extra scrutiny to limit the release of information that 鈥渕ay lead to criticism of the department.鈥�
Phillips filed the聽聽in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The office of D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine filed a motion to dismiss the case on March 11, but that was denied May 2.
On June 17, Boasberg set deadlines for a list of potential witnesses, discovery and a future status hearing.
Before being hired in Prince William, 小萝莉影视ham was chief of the Metropolitan Police Department from 2017 to early 2021, overseeing 4,500 employees.聽 He has denied the allegations.
鈥淭here was not a watchlist,鈥澛�. 鈥淪ome of the folks who have reported on this issue, what I鈥檝e asked them to do is read the lawsuit.鈥�
Phillips鈥� lawsuit is based on information provided by Vendette Parker, who was MPD鈥檚 Freedom of Information Act officer from October 2017 to January 2020. The lawsuit is accompanied by a 12-page statement signed by Parker.
In her statement, Parker says that on her first day in the office, she was told by a supervisor that 小萝莉影视ham 鈥渇elt he was being blindsided as the media and others confronted him with questions regarding records they had obtained from FOIA, records he was unaware had been released.鈥�
Parker said she was advised of an 鈥渦nofficial, unwritten policy that required the FOIA officer to notify Chief 小萝莉影视ham 鈥� of any FOIA request originating from the media, certain identified individuals, or requests for certain records.鈥�
In its March motion to dismiss the lawsuit, the district appeared to place any potential blame at 小萝莉影视ham鈥檚 feet while alternately claiming both that no such policy existed and, if it did, that it would be in the district鈥檚 best interest to continue it.
The district argued that Phillips failed to 鈥渁llege the existence of a current policy鈥� and instead only applied to a theoretical policy instituted under 小萝莉影视ham.
The motion echoed 小萝莉影视ham鈥檚 claims that his policy was not aimed at restricting access to records, rather that he simply wanted to know what information was being released.
鈥淓ven taking plaintiff鈥檚 allegations as true, the alleged watchlist policy would merely involve a series of notifications that lead to MPD leadership鈥檚 awareness and oversight of certain FOIA requests and responses,鈥� the district argues. 鈥淓nsuring the Chief of Police is adequately prepared to address high-profile matters in his public appearances is not a discriminatory motive behind any differing policies for handling FOIA requests.鈥�
The motion argues that any burden imposed on those on the watchlist would be 鈥渕inimal鈥� and only add 鈥渟ome small amount of time.鈥� The district says there鈥檚 no evidence it 鈥渨ould be unfavorable to those affected by it.鈥�
鈥淢PD has a substantial government interest in providing accurate information to the public, both for its own sake and for the sake of fostering public confidence in the police force,鈥� the motion states.
The district argued that Phillips has no standing to sue because she has no outstanding FOIA requests, but Judge Boasberg countered that she has two pending. The judge says he found that information 鈥渇rom the District鈥檚 own FOIA public-access portal and is thus a matter of public record.鈥�
The district also contends that it has authority under FOIA to limit certain disclosures. However, Boesberg wrote that the case centers on application of the law rather than a particular request.
After Boasberg denied the motion to dismiss, the district filed its response to the lawsuit, broadly denying the allegations. It says 小萝莉影视ham didn鈥檛 have any 鈥渄irect or regular involvement鈥� in the police department鈥檚 response to FOIA requests.
鈥淭he District denies the allegations 鈥� to the extent they are alleging that the District assessed FOIA requests for whether they 鈥渕ay lead to criticism of [MPD]鈥� or had 鈥渢he potential to embarrass [MPD],鈥� the response says. 鈥淭he District also denies the allegations 鈥� to the extent they are alleging that the District treated FOIA requests differently based on the identity of the individual submitting the FOIA request.鈥�
Boasberg scheduled discovery to end by March 15, 2023, with the next hearing set for March 16, 2023.
