PA Supreme Court filed its decision/ Tribune Review v. Bodack

Court rules phone bills are open to public, but phone numbers are not

The PA Supreme Court filed its decision today in the Tribune Review v. Bodack that bills for cellular phones purchased by the City but reimbursed by a councilman were public records; however, the numbers on the phones had to be redacted under the personal security/privacy exception in the current (soon to be old) RTK law.

An inquiring citizen can now ascertain how much the City spent on the phones, how much was reimbursed, but not get access to the numbers called or the calls received. This comports with exemption #6(i)(A) under the new Act. The high court's decision was unanimous with Justice Saylor concurring in the result, but filing a separate opinion on the standard to apply to the balancing test of public interest v. privacy, arguing against the majority's blanket exception for phone numbers in favor of allowing a requesting party to make a specific showing that the public interest outweighs the privacy right raised like the New Jersey Supreme Court has permitted.