Ohio Attorney General's Amicus Brief In Support Of Relators/Appellants.pdf

STATEMENT OF AMICUS INTEREST
The Attorney General of Ohio, Dave Yost, submits this amicus curiae brief in support of the relators/appellants, Cable News Network, Inc., et al. The Attorney General's office has a significant interest in this case because it involves the interpretation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Ohio Public Records Act.

STATEMENT OF FACTS
The Bellbrook-Sugarcreek Local Schools, respondents/appellees, have refused to disclose the educational records of a deceased student, citing FERPA. The relators/appellants, Cable News Network, Inc., et al., seek to compel the disclosure of these records under the Ohio Public Records Act.

ARGUMENT
Amicus Attorney General’s Proposition of Law 1:
FERPA does not protect the records of former students who die in adulthood.
The Attorney General argues that FERPA only applies to the education records of living students, and therefore, the records of a deceased student are not protected by FERPA. This proposition is supported by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Gonzaga Univ. v. Doe, 536 U.S. 273 (2002), which held that FERPA only applies to education records of living students.

Amicus Attorney General’s Proposition of Law 2:
Ohio’s Student Privacy Act, R.C. 3319.321, does not provide more protection than FERPA and a deceased student’s records are public records subject to disclosure under Ohio’s Public Records Act.
The Attorney General argues that Ohio's Student Privacy Act, R.C. 3319.321, does not provide more protection than FERPA, and therefore, the records of a deceased student are public records subject to disclosure under the Ohio Public Records Act. This proposition is supported by the Ohio Supreme Court's decision in State ex rel. Clark v. Great Lakes Construction Company, 99 Ohio St. 3d 320, 2003-Ohio-3802 (2003), which held that the Ohio Public Records Act takes precedence over other statutes that may provide more limited access to public records.

CONCLUSION
The Attorney General's office supports the relators/appellants' position that the educational records of a deceased student are public records subject to disclosure under the Ohio Public Records Act. The Attorney General's office believes that the records of a deceased student are not protected by FERPA and that Ohio's Student Privacy Act does not provide more protection than FERPA.