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Mackinac Center Sues Rochester Community Schools for Failing to Follow FOIA law

Since December 2021, Carol Beth Litkouhi has been trying to get records from the Rochester Community School District. The district has refused to turn them over, wrongly citing copyright law and other statutes.

CASE UPDATE: On February 22, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Rochester Community School District. The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation is appealing this decision.

Case summary | Documents & Timeline

Case summary

On December 14, 2021, Carol Beth Litkouhi, a parent in the Rochester Community School District, submitted a public records request to the district under the state’s Freedom of Information Act. She wanted information on “History of Ethnic and Gender Studies,” a course being taught within the district. Rochester Community Schools partially granted her request by providing a unit plan for the course, which provided only limited information. It denied the rest of her request. Carol Beth appealed the decision on January 19th, 2022.

Rochester Community Schools denied the appeal on February 8. It emphasized that it had provided all the documents that responded to the request. The district said it denied the appeal because there were no other relevant documents. The district, however, failed to address specific arguments Carol Beth made. In particular, if there were no relevant documents, that would mean classroom material had not been produced for a course that was actively being taught, and had been taught for over six months.


Carol Beth on Fox & Friends

Carol Beth on Fox & Friends, April 28, 2022.


Separately, Carol Beth filed another FOIA request on December 27, 2021, asking for materials relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion training for the years 2020-2022. Rochester Community Schools granted the request after some correspondence on February 11, 2022. But it alleged that some of the relevant materials were protected by copyright, and because they were copyrighted, the district could not produce copies of them.

Carol Beth turned to the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation, and on March 14, 2022 the Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit to have the FOIA requests provided in unredacted form. Rochester Community School District has an obligation under Michigan law to provide these documents to her. Its refusal to do this significantly hinders the goal of FOIA, which is to provide all people with “full and complete information regarding the affairs of government…so that they may fully participate in the democratic process.”

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Featured media

  • Fox & Friends Interview
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  • The Detroit News: Oakland Ruling Weakens Transparency Law

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Documents & Timeline

March 2022

  • Press Release March 15, 2022

  • Complaint March 15, 2022

July 2022

  • Amended Complaint with Exhibits July 6, 2022

  • Answer to First Amended Complaint July 19, 2022

August 2022

  • Combined Motion and Brief to Quash August 3, 2022

  • Response to Plantiff's Motion to Quash August 12, 2022

September 2022

  • Motion for Summary Dusposition September 30, 2022

October 2022

  • Plaintiff's Response Brief October 14, 2022

  • Reply Brief October 24, 2022

December 2022

  • Final Order December 15, 2022

  • Press Release December 16, 2022

January 2023

  • Claim of Appeal January 4, 2023

June 2023

  • Appellant's Brief June 1, 2023

August 2023

  • Appellee's Brief August 3, 2023

  • Appellant's Reply Brief August 24, 2023

  • Reply Appendix August 24, 2023

December 2023

  • Order December 5, 2023

February 2024

  • Order February 22, 2024

May 2024

  • MSC Appeal Response Brief from RCSD May 1, 204

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