Judge tosses 1,733-page appendix filed by fired cannabis chair, seeks prompt resolution to case
Image | Courtesy of State House News Service
Former Cannabis Control Commission Chairwoman Shannon O'Brien and her lawyer, Max Stern, spoke with reporters after a December 2023 hearing in Suffolk Superior Court.
A Superior Court judge last week struck from the record the entirety of the 1,733-page appendix Shannon O'Brien filed alongside the appeal of her firing as Cannabis Control Commission chairwoman, but he also made clear that he expects Treasurer Deborah Goldberg to release details of her decision to axe the CCC chair in the next few weeks.
O'Brien's lawyers say the public should have access to the cache that includes reports from investigators who looked into complaints against O'Brien, testimony from the closed-door hearings Goldberg held before firing O'Brien, and Goldberg's written removal decision "so that [O'Brien] can clear her name and rehabilitate any damage done by the Treasurer." The treasurer's office -- and newly as of this month the CCC itself -- argued that the documents should remain impounded because they include personal information about CCC employees that is supposed to be legally protected from disclosure.
Judge Robert Gordon concluded last week that he "need not decide" whether those confidentiality claims apply to O'Brien's filing because her "filing of the Appendix does not comport with either" court standing rules or procedures. He ordered O'Brien's appendix to be "stricken from the record of this case."
"The Court acknowledges the public's interest in the governance of the CCC, and [O'Brien's] interest, as she views the matter, in clearing her name following her dismissal as its chair. Those interests, however, do not warrant a departure from the procedures..." Gordon wrote.
Goldberg fired O'Brien, herself a former state treasurer and Democratic Party nominee for governor, in September after considering more than 20 hours of meetings held last summer as well as various documents, case law and policies. The treasurer has not released any document outlining her decision, but said she fired O'Brien because she "committed gross misconduct and demonstrated she is unable to discharge the powers and duties of a CCC commissioner."
A court filing from O'Brien's legal team indicates that the appendix included transcripts of the closed-door hearings, investigative reports, emails detailing employee complaints at the CCC, written testimony submitted in connection with the hearings, Goldberg's full removal decision, and more. O'Brien's camp has previously released some of those documents to reporters.
Gordon said he anticipates that proceeding "in the normal course ... will narrow any disputes over purportedly protected information, and thereby promote a more expeditious resolution of the case. (This, of course, will further the most salient interests of both the parties and the public.)"
The judge said the court's scope of review in this type of matter is confined to an administrative record to be filed by the state agency involved, in this case Goldberg's office. That filing, which can be redacted in accordance with state laws, must be made with the court no later than 90 days after service of O'Brien's complaint -- Gordon said it is expected no later than Feb. 12 and added that he is skeptical that it will contain large amounts of personal information that is protected under the "narrow definition" being used.
"Here, to the extent the Treasurer seeks to impound any portion of the administrative record, she must do so by accompanying motion in accordance with Standing Order 1-96. In such motion, the Treasurer must identify the specific information she seeks to withhold, and, as to each piece of information so referenced, she must cite the specific statutory or common law basis of the claim that the material is protected from public disclosure," the judge said.
Assistant Attorney General John Hitt, who is representing Goldberg's office, wrote in a court filing late last year that Goldberg "acknowledges that this case ... is of great interest to the public, and the public has a right to know as many of the facts and circumstances regarding the Treasurer's decision as possible."
"The Treasurer supports public disclosure of as much as the underlying record of proceedings before her as is possible," Hitt wrote.
Gordon is handling the O'Brien-Goldberg matter after Judge Rosemary Connolly last month recused herself, according to the Worcester Telegram. The case was ordered "for special assignment" to Gordon earlier this month. The new judge left a footnote at the end of his ruling last week underscoring how drawn-out the dispute between O'Brien and Goldberg has become.
"[T]his case has not proceeded with the alacrity one might expect in a matter that carries the level of importance attached to it by the parties and public alike. It is the Court's fervent hope that the case not become further enmired in procedural wrangles that keep it from getting to the merits," Gordon wrote.
Gordon was appointed to the Superior Court bench in 2013 by Gov. Deval Patrick. Prior to that, he worked at the Boston law firm Ropes & Gray for more than two decades, with a focus on labor and employment law, and also spent 10 years on the Wayland School Committee, the News Service previously reported.
In 2020, Gordon was the judge who cleared former House Speaker Sal DiMasi to register as a lobbyist with a ruling that overturned Secretary of State William Galvin's decision to reject DiMasi's application based on his past convictions on federal corruption and extortion charges.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments