MICHAEL NOWACKI MAKES FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST TO DCF COMMISSIONER JOETTE KATZ IN CONNECTION TO HER ROLE AS CHAIR OF EDITORIAL BOARD OF THE CT LAW TRIBUNE!

The Honorable Joyette Katz

Commissioner
Department of Children and Families
505 Hudson Street
Hartford, CT

 

Freedom of Information Request

                                                                       February 24, 2015

 

Dear Commissioner Katz:

Recent publicly televised re-appointment hearings conducted in the Connecticut legislature failed to note that you are currently serving in the capacity as Chair, of the editorial board of Connecticut Law Tribune.

Recent editorial coverage in the Connecticut Law Tribune concerning an article authored by Attorney Norm Pattis, in an opinion piece, published on-line on Wednesday February 11, 2015, entitled: “Despite Allegations, Family Courts not Corrupt” recently was challenged for a lack of authenticity of certain comments authored by Attorney Pattis.

Such “materially false and misleading” publication of information would be potentially a matter of discussion at meetings conducted by the editorial board of the Connecticut Law Tribune.

As Chair of the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Tribune, and as an appointed public official as the Commissioner of DCF with substantial responsibilities relating to family court, probate court and juvenile court proceedings, there is substantial public interest in the matters involving your personal use of computers and servers, owned by the State of Connecticut, in your role as the Chair of the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Tribune.

If you have used your state provided email address or any personal email address which was accessed through servers owned by the State of Connecticut, the content of the communications contained in such emails are considered “public communications” and subject to the applications of the Freedom of Information Act. 

Decisional cases issued by the FOI Commission are available for your review which have verified that the use of personal email addresses to conduct “business” relevant to your responsibilities as DCF Commissioner are also to be considered “public documents” subject to the application and legislative intent of the Freedom of Information Act. 

Unfortunately, defining potential “conflicts of interest” between your responsibilities as Commissioner of DCF and your role as a Chair, Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Tribune, can only be determined by inspecting “public records” pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act.

Your have massive responsibilities as Commissioner of DCF and this request for access to “public records” for “inspection” should not be considered onerous or impinging on your job responsibilities inasmuch as members of your staff and IT departments can be utilized to easily retrieve documents through search codes for key words.

Based upon the above observations, you are herewith required within four business days to acknowledge the receipt of this request to produce “public records” for public inspection and to indicate your personal intent to comply with this FOI request.

  Within thirty days of the acknowledgment of this Freedom of Information request you are required to produce for “public inspection” at your offices at 505 Hudson Street relevant “documents/public records” requested, subject to “redactions” as permissible and defined in the Freedom of Information Act and decisions issued by the Commission.

For the purposes of clarification, “documents/public records” are defined in the Freedom of Information Act and should be considered as the “base line” for providing the “public records” to be provided for inspection in this request.

For the purposes of all of the documents requested, the date span for the production of all “public records” (including personal emails sent or received regarding DCF business matter referenced in any “public record” of communications with fellow Editorial Board members or members of the staff of the CLT), should be considered from the date of your sworn oath as DCF Commissioner to the date of compliance with this request dated February 24, 2015.

The “public records” to be made available for “public inspection” should include” for the date span indicated in the above paragraph should include:

 

1.     Any “public records” in your possession sent or received from your State of Connecticut provided email address, state owned fax machine, received at your offices at 505 Hudson Street or your home address authored by you in your capacity as DC Commisioner or sent or received “public records” sent to you by any past or present member of the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Tribune, including but not limited to the following individuals:

 

 

Attorney Dwight Merriam    Robert Farr                Elizabeth Gordon    

Joyce Chen                          Eugene Fidell           Rachel Goldberg

Prolog K. Das                       Mary Galvin               Robert Holzberg

Wesley Horton                      Alan Neigher                        Steven Wizner

Jocelyn Kennedy                 Lemis Pepe               Paul Sussman

David King                            Thomas Scheffer     Jay Stapleton

James Lyon                          Mark Soboslar          Kevin Michielsen

Eugene Marconi                  James F. Sullivan

Sean McElligot                     Cecil Thomas

Robert Mitchell                     Thomas Ullman

Dennis C. Murphy               Diane Whitney

 

2.     Any “public record” in any communication sent to any of the above individuals issued on DCF Stationery or sent on your personal stationery which references the words “DCF” in any portion of such communication including how you signed such letters using DCF Commissioner.

 

3.    Any “public record” sent or received in your possession confirming the date of your acceptance to become the Chair of the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Tribune or to which established a date in which you became a member of the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Tribune.

 

4.    A properly redacted copy of your required disclosure of all statements of financial interests (SFI’s) required by law to be filed with the Office of State Ethics from 2010-2015.  A copy of all expense reports filed by you as the Commissioner of DCF filed with the Office of State Ethics required to be filed with the Office of State Ethics filed from 2010 through the date of compliance with this request.  A copy of all gifts received by you in your capacity as Commissioner of DCF required to be filed with the Office of State Ethics from 2010 to the date of compliance with this request.

 

 

5.    Any “public records” in your possession of honorariums or other public speaking engagements which you have made, including appearances you may have made to any law association groups as DCF Commissioner.

 

6.    Any “public records” in your possession which you have sent or received at the DCF offices at 505 Hudson Street from member of the judicial branch of government, including any Superior Court judges, probate court judges, family court judges or any CSSD employee or Court operations personnel which are permissible for release pursuant to the FOI Act.

 

7.    Any “public records” in your possession sent or received from any present or past Editorial Board member of the Connecticut Law Tribune to any personal email account or home address you have maintained during your tenure as DCF Commissioner which embed the words “DCF,” “family court docket numbers or family court litigant names”, “juvenile court docket numbers or juvenile court litigant names” or “probate court docket numbers or juvenile court litigant names”

 

8.    Any “public records” in your possession as DCF Commissioner and as Chair or member of the Connecticut Law Tribune Editorial Board which contain minutes to any meeting convened or attended by you at the Connecticut Law Tribune which would capture any content in such minutes of the meetings of the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Tribune concerning discussion of any DCF, family court, juvenile court or probate court legal proceeding in which an employee of DCF would be involved.

 

9.    Any “opinion pieces”, “letters to the editor” which you may have authored and were published in the on line or print editions of the Connecticut Law Tribune as Chair of the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Tribune while you have served as DCF Commissioner.

 

10. A copy of your letter of resignation as a Supreme Court Justice.

 

11. A copy of any “public records” in your possession which may contain information regarding the proposed consolidation by Governor Malloy of the operations of Court Support Services Division and DCF.

 

12. A copy of any “public records” in your possession sent or received, whether retrieved from your State of Connecticut provided email address or any personal email address in which the recent publication of the article “Despite Allegations, Family Courts are Not Corrupt” was discussed by you in your role as DCF Commissioner and Chair of the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Tribune

 

13. A copy of any “public records” in your possession, sent or received, whether retrieved from your State of Connecticut provided email address or any personal email address which contains the name Michael Nowacki.

 

14. A copy of any “public records” in your possession, sent or received whether retrieved from your State of Connecticut provided email address or any personal email address which contains of the name of Peter Szymonik.

 

15. A copy of any “public records” in your possession, sent or received, whether retrieved from your State of Connecticut provided email address or any personal email address which contains references embedded in any “public records” referencing the words “Task Force To Study Legal Disputes Involving the Care and Custody of Minor Children, CT-N coverage of the public hearings of January 9, 2014 or March 31, 2014, SB 494 or Public Act 14-3” while you were serving in the capacity as DCF Commissioner and the Chair or member of the Editorial Board of the Connecticut Law Tribune.

 

16. A copy of any resignation letter you might issue as DCF Commissioner to withdraw as the Chair of the Connecticut Law Tribune’s Editorial Board which may ensue from the date of the receipt of this letter by fax and registered mail and the date of compliance with the production of these requested “public records for public inspection.”

 

If you would like me to speak to any member of your staff who is assigned the responsibilities to compile these requested “public records”, please do not hesitate to have that person contact me via email, phone, or letter based upon the information contained below.

When the public records are prepared for inspection, please know it is my intent to be joined by a group of people who will accompany me to scan public records in the most efficient manner possible so as to not occupy your staff’s valuable time.

I would like to “inspect in person” any partial compliance with any of these “public record’s which can be provided to me from this list requested in this letter no later than Thursday, March 5.

As you may know, the United States Attorney Office has recently announced the creation of a Task Force hotline number to allow citizens to report matters of “public corruption” to a special phone number in which complaints can be made.

Therefore, I am copying Deputy Chief State Attorney Leonard Boyle and the U.S. Attorney Deidre Daly on these communications to alert them to the importance of compliance with evidence acquired by citizens pursuant to the application of the Freedom of Information Act.

     Cordially,

 

     Michael Nowacki

     319 Lost District Drive
     New Canaan, CT  06840
      mnowacki@aol.com
     (203) 273-4296

 

     cc:  Deputy Chief State Attorney Leonard Boyle

            U.S. Attorney Deidre Daly