A state judge ruled Wednesday that a group of 27 local and national news organizations, including The Buffalo News, can participate in a lawsuit brought by the unions for Buffalo police and firefighters who want to keep secret parts of disciplinary records.
State Supreme Court Justice Frank A. Sedita III also denied the New York Civil Liberties Union's bid to become a party to the lawsuit.
In June, a change in state law made disciplinary records of police officers and firefighters available to the public . The police and fire unions, who filed the lawsuit in July, want the courts to block the City of Buffalo from releasing disciplinary records involving unsubstantiated allegations, pending allegations and matters that were subject of confidential settlement agreements.
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Sedita previously issued a temporary restraining order. The unions want both a temporary and permanent injunction barring the city from taking such actions.
The national Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, The Buffalo News, and other national and local news organizations that sought to participate in the lawsuit oppose keeping the records from public view.
During the Wednesday court proceeding, conducted over video conferencing, Sedita also ruled that a man with a pending federal civil lawsuit against the Buffalo Police Department can be party to the lawsuit, while the judge rejected bids from many local, state and national organizations who sought "friend of the court" status.
Those denied participation included local groups such as the Partnership for the Public Good, Open Buffalo and Black Love Resists in the Rust; state groups, including Common Cause New York and Citizen Action of New York; and national groups, such as the National Center for Law and Economic Justice and the Law Enforcement Action Partnership.
Sedita, who noted that many of the groups denied such status may have noble or righteous goals, said they did not convince him they had sufficient legal grounds to participate in the suit.
"This is not a forum for political debate," Sedita said from the bench. "This is a forum to decide a legal controversy."
Sedita also rejected a bid for "friend of the court" status made by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and other groups because the legal application was filed Monday, which did not give the parties involved proper time to respond, the judge ruled.
Becoming a "friend of the court" allows parties to submit legal arguments for the court to consider in making its judgment.
Sedita allowed James Kistner, a Buffalo man with an existing federal suit against the police department, to become a party to the suit, in effect ruling that Kistner's interests are not being represented by the city. The city, if it is barred from releasing some disciplinary records, would arguably be in a better position to defend itself in the federal case, Sedita said.
The city's attorneys did not oppose the unions' request for the temporary restraining order, Sedita said.
Aside from The Buffalo News, other news organizations granted legal status in the case include the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, as well as the owners of other local news outlets, along with national news organizations.
Further arguments in the case are scheduled for Oct. 6.
