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A months- long battle for records
Saturday, November 26, 2005 9:16 AM PST
The World began seeking public records in the Haskinson/Berven child abuse case in late March and early April following an anonymous tip.
Under state law, documents are considered public records when they are managed by and in the custody of public bodies and agencies. That doesn’t mean all the information on those records is open to the public.
In investigating the Berven family child abuse case, we were able to get copies of the arrest-warrant affidavits for Samantha Haskinson and John Berven.
We were able to get basic school attendance information on Ina Rose from the Coos Bay School District and a homeschooling enrollment date from the South Coast Education Service.
When it came to police, court and state Child Welfare department documents, we initially hit a roadblock on the public records trail. We began filing public record requests, ultimately turning to our attorney, Piper Rudnick Gray Cary US LLP, for help.
We were aware that school officials met with Child Welfare representatives and the parents one year before the state took Ina Rose into protective custody.
On June 17, 2005, after the couple’s sentencing in Coos County Circuit Court, the District Attorney’s Office indicated the court records would be open for inspection. On June 21, the DA’s office refused to open the records, saying juvenile court documents are not public record. The only remedy to try to obtain the records was to file a lawsuit in Coos County Circuit Court.
In July 2005, we requested records from the Coos Bay School District pertaining to the April 2004 meeting between school officials, Child Welfare and Haskinson and Berven. Three documents were provided. School District attorney David Dorsey provided those records.
“My conclusion was that those did not constitute education records pertaining to the child. They were records pertaining to the government’s functioning,” he said.
He deemed other records concerning Ina Rose’s education off-limits under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and state rules.
In July 2005, we also requested the School District provide copies of truancy letters to Haskinson and Berven that might have been forwarded to the District Attorney’s Office to compel them to keep their child in school. The district denied the request, as did the DA’s office on a similar request. However, in a records check through Oregon Judicial Department from 2002 forward, the DA’s office filed no such cases against the couple.
On June 17, 2005, we requested Child Welfare to provide documents related to the department’s handling of the child abuse case, in part arguing that ORS section 409.255(6) goes on to state that “the department shall disclose information related to the department’s activities and responsibilities in a case where child abuse or neglect has resulted in a child fatality or near fatality or where an adult has been charged with a crime related to child abuse or neglect.” The couple were charged with attempted murder in the torture and starvation of Ina Rose.
The Oregon Department of Human Services refused on July 6 to release any documents. The eight-page response detailed why the state believed all records pertaining to the case were closed to the public.
On Aug. 17, 2005, we appealed the DHS denial to Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers.
In mid-September of this year, the Oregon Department of Justice agreed to have the agency provide some records pertaining to DHS’ activities and responsibilities in the case. The records released dated back to March 1, 2005, and many had been edited to remove information the agency deemed exempt. |
