The Law Office of Stephanie Adams, PLLC, is gratified to announce our client, Mr. James Kistner, was accepted as a party to Buffalo Police Benevolent Association et al vs. Byron Brown et al, the local case in the fight to uphold the repeal of Article 50-a.
“The fight to preserve and ensure access to law enforcement disciplinary records, as guaranteed by the recent changes to the law, is critical,” said attorney Stephanie “Cole” Adams. “Mr. Kistner, like many others, want to shine the light of day on these records. By being admitted as a party, he can advance his rights under the new law.”
At a hearing this afternoon, State Supreme Court Judge Frank Sedita noted Kistner has a specific interest at stake in advocating for the records’ release.
On New Year’s Day, 2017, in from of his residence on Buffalo’s East Side, Jim Kistner was struck by a police vehicle as he approached a second police vehicle in order to ask officers why they had visited a nearby rental property he owns. He filed suit against the City of Buffalo in 2018; the enforcement of 50-a repeal is crucial to his case as he seeks disciplinary records for the officers involved in this incident, and for the department overall.
For decades, “Article 50-a” had prevented plaintiffs, journalists, activists, lawmakers and anyone else in the general public seeking to investigate or redress harm by police officers from obtaining investigative and disciplinary records from police departments. With the repeal of 50-a, many of those records, with redactions for privacy and health information, are accessible via the state’s Freedom of Information Law (“FOIL”).
The Buffalo Police Benevolent Association seeks to keep those records inaccessible, despite the new legislation and its stated goals.
Today’s proceedings were limited to those parties to be admitted to the case. The matter returns to Sedita’s courtroom on October 6, at which time the City of Buffalo’s motion to dismiss the case, as well as Kistner’s motion to dismiss and request to preserve the records and guarantee access as required by the new law, will be heard on the merits.
The LOSA has requested every possible “law enforcement disciplinary record” the City of Buffalo has.
James Kistner is a Buffalo resident, a father of young children, and an average citizen who since 2017 has been fighting for justice as a result of police misconduct.
Donations to help defray the cost of his continuing fight for all records available from Buffalo’s police department can be directed to The Law Office of Stephanie Adams, PLLC, Trust Account, with a designation of” James Kistner 50-a Legal Support Fund;” contact (716) 464-3386 for further information. Any amount not used will be applied to preserving and making accessible to the public the records Mr. Kistner is fighting to access under the repeal of 50-a.