Telegraph file photo by DEAN SHALHOUP Attorneys Gregory Sullivan, left, and Henry Klementowicz, two of the four lawyers representing the petitioners in the right-to-know suit against the state Department of Justice, listen to arguments during a Superior Court hearing.

CONCORD – Gov. Chris Sununu, in joining political office-holders across the nation in reviewing law enforcement practices and procedures with an eye on boosting police transparency and accountability, including assembling a commission for that purpose, appears to be seeking similar solutions as proposed by journalists and ACLU-NH in an ongoing lawsuit.

The suit, filed two years ago by a group of petitioners that includes ACLU-NH, 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, asserts that the Department of Justice’s Exculpatory Evidence Schedule (EES), which contains the names of police officers with disciplinary issues, is a public document that should be made available in unredacted form.

But representatives of the office of Attorney General Gordon MacDonald have maintained all along that the contents of the EES, formerly called the Laurie List, are

extensions of officers’ personnel files, and are therefore exempt from disclosure under the state’s Right-to-Know statute.

Sununu’s announcement this week that he favors the release of the names of the officers on the EES ñ about 264 statewide, at last count ñ as long as the officers “have had due process,” appears to support the plaintiffs’ argument that the names and other information are public.

Sununu also this week announced the formation of a new commission, whose dozen or so members will be charged with examining current police practices, police training, and enhancing relationships between police officers and their respective communities.

Sununu set a 45-day time frame for the commission’s work, during which time members will focus on “developing recommendations for reforms necessary to enhance transparency, accountability, and community relations in law enforcement.”

In addressing the media, Sununu emphasized he does not want the commission to engage in “long and drawn out study. It’s an issue where we need to act now,” he added, citing the national, and even international, reaction, to the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police officers.

As for the status of the suit, MacDonald and state Solicitor General Daniel Will, representing the DOJ, appealed Superior Court Judge Charles Temple’s April 2019 ruling that the EES “is not confidential” and “is not exempt” under the state statutes that apply.

Among the plaintiffs’ arguments is the assertion that the privacy exemption under the state’s Right to Know law “does not apply to the EES list, because the public interest in disclosure far outweighs any privacy and governmental interest in nondisclosure.”

Temple subsequently denied the DOJ’s motion to dismiss the case, which prompted MacDonald and Will to appeal the matter to the Supreme Court.

The high court accepted the case on June 4, 2019, and under normal circumstances, a ruling would have come down by now.

But the arrival of the COVID-19 virus threat disrupted months worth of proceedings at every court level, and this is one of the many cases that faced a delay, according to a court spokeswoman.

As for Sununu’s commission, its membership will include the following, according to his statement.

* The Attorney General, or a designee, who will chair the commission

* The Commissioner of the Department of Safety, or a designee

* The executive director of the New Hampshire Commission for Human Rights

* The director of the Police Standards and Training Council

* The chair of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Diversity and Inclusion

* The president of the Manchester NAACP

* A current justice of the New Hampshire Superior or Circuit Court, appointed by and serving at the pleasure of the governor

* A representative of the New Hampshire Police Association, appointed by, and serving at the pleasure of, the governor

* The President of the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police

* The executive director of the New Hampshire Chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness

* A representative of the New Hampshire ACLU, appointed by and serving at the pleasure of the governor

* Two members of the public, appointed by and serving at the pleasure of the governor.

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

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