Aiming to curb public dissemination of private information, a Long Island judge has refused to accept “any document” containing a Social Security number and will no longer “entertain or otherwise execute” any application with such identifying information. In a one-paragraph decision declining to order a subpoena in a medical malpractice case involving the death of a nursing home resident, Supreme Court Justice F. Dana Winslow of Nassau County (See Profile) held in Ahamed v. CABS Nursing Home, 8512/08, that the danger of making private information publicly accessible “is no less compelling where…the social security number is gratuitously provided and identifies a deceased individual.”
In an interview, Justice Winslow said that papers with Social Security numbers are filed in his courtroom on a weekly basis but this was “the first time I had a chance to do anything about it” because ordering the subpoena would have placed it in the public record. David Bookstaver, a spokesman for the state court system, said there are no guidelines to limit the scope of identifying information of litigants. While Justice Winslow’s decision “does not reflect OCA policy, this is an issue that we are examining,” Mr. Bookstaver said. — Vesselin Mitev
Panel Upsets ConvictionsOf Bicycling Protesters
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