"On November 20, 2007, Governor Deval Patrick signed the Leopoldville Remembrance Day Bill which permanently recognizes December 24 as a day of remembrance in Massachusetts for the brave servicemen involved in the 1944 S.S. Leopoldville disaster. The Governor met with Walter Brown, a survivor of the disaster, as well as Lynn high school constituent Alexander Rittershaus and Senator McGee; all advocates of the Leopoldville Remembrance Day Bill."
"Governor Patrick signs Leopoldville Remembrance Day Bill, officially making December 24 a day of remembrance for the Leopoldville disaster. "
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A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law,
Published by
William Francis Galvin,
Secretary of the Commonwealth
Division of Public Records,
(Updated January 2017)
can be found at https://www.mass.gov/files/2017-06/Public%20Records%20Law.pdf and page 7 says:
"With the exception of situations in which a records custodian is withholding records pursuant to Exemption (n), inquiries into a requester's status or motivation for seeking information are expressly prohibited. Consequently, all requests for public records, even if made for a commercial purpose or to assist the requester in a lawsuit against the holder of the records, must be honored in accordance with the Public Records Law."
↑See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a) (public records are to be provided to “any person”); see also 950 CMR 32.05(5) (custodian prohibited from inquiring into a requester’s status or motivation); but see G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(n) (a records custodian may ask the requester to voluntarily provide additional information in order to reach a “reasonable judgment” regarding disclosure of responsive records).
Definition of "public record"
Public records are defined in A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law,
Published by
William Francis Galvin,
Secretary of the Commonwealth
Division of Public Records,
(Updated January 2017)
at https://www.mass.gov/files/2017-06/Public%20Records%20Law.pdf on page 40, under M. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26) as:
all books, papers, maps, photographs, recorded tapes, financial statements, statistical tabulations, or other documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any agency, executive office, department, board, commission, bureau, division or authority of the commonwealth, or of any political subdivision thereof, or of any authority established by the general court to serve a public purpose, or any person, corporation, association, partnership or other legal entity which receives or expends public funds for the payment or administration of pensions for any current or former employees of the commonwealth or any political subdivision as defined in section 1 of chapter 32, unless such materials or data fall within the following exemptions found on page 40
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