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PR 17- 21 Farinelli v. City of Pawtucket – No Violation

The City did not violate the APRA when it withheld disclosure of the "original" police narratives pertaining to a specific and identifiable death determined to be a suicide. While the City had disclosed the modified or updated narrative approximately two years ago, "the fact that 'an event is not wholly private does not mean that an individual has no interest in limiting disclosure or dissemination of the information.'" United States Department of Justice v. Reporters Committee, 489 U.S. 749, 770 (1989). Even assuming that the disclosure would advance some "public interest," the complaint and rebuttal were replete with evidence that disclosure would invade significant privacy interest. Moreover, because the document concerned a specific and identifiable person/incident, it was not susceptible to redaction. Pawtucket Teachers Alliance v. Brady, 556 A.2d 556, 559 (R.I. 1989).

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