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Motion to extend deadlines in EES case likely to be granted

By Dean Shalhoup - Senior Staff Writer | Jan 13, 2020

CONCORD – In an “assented-to” motion filed recently in the state Supreme Court, lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire and members of the Attorney General’s office are asking for an additional 15 days in which to file their respective responsive briefs in the so-called EES lawsuit.

The ACLU-NH filed the suit against the state Department of Justice in the fall of 2018, arguing that the EES – exculpatory evidence schedule, formerly known as the Laurie List – which contains the names of police officers with credibility issues, should be made public under the state’s right-to-know law.

But state officials disagree, insisting that the names of officers on the list, and most other information the EES includes, are confidential because the information is an extention of the officers’ personnel files – which, by law, are confidential in their entirety.

Besides the ACLU-NH, several state media outlets are named as petitioners in the suit, including The New Hampshire Center for Public Interest Journalism, which publishes InDepthNH.org; The Telegraph of Nashua, Keene Sentinel, Concord Monitor, Seacoast Media Group, the Valley News and the New Hampshire Union Leader.

Both parties, meanwhile, assented – or agreed with each other – to the filing of the motion, which, if granted, would give both sides an additional 15 days to file their respective briefs.

If approved, the ACLU-NH’s deadline would be extended from Jan. 14 to Jan. 29, while the state’s deadline to respond would be extended from Feb. 12 to Feb. 27.

According to the motion, the extension request “is for personal reasons with respect to undersigned ACLU-NH counsel,” who is ACLU-NH director Gilles Bissonnette.

The case has been with the Supreme Court since early June, when justices accepted the state’s appeal of an April 23 Superior Court ruling denying the state’s motion to dismiss the case.

The key to Temple’s 12-page ruling was his finding that the EES is not part of law enforcement officers’ confidential personnel files.

“Because the officers listed on the EES do not share an employee-employer relationship with the DOJ … the court finds the EES is not a personnel file … , Temple wrote.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

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