Kendrick v. The Advertiser Company d/b/a The Montgomery Advertiser, [Ms. 1150275, June 24, 2016] __ So. 3d __ (Ala. 2016). The Court holds that a request by The Montgomery Advertiser to obtain student-athletes' financial aid forms for students participating in the Alabama State University football program which were made under authority of §36-12-40, Ala. Code 1975 (the "Open Records Act"), (which provides "[e]very citizen has a right to inspect and take a copy of any public writing of this state except as otherwise expressly provided by statute") was preempted by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C. § 1232(g) ("FERPA"), and its implementing regulations, 34 C.F.R. Part 99, et seq., because disclosure of the requested forms would reveal information regarding the student's name, the sports in which they participated, and whether they received financial aid. This is the very type of information FERPA was implemented to protect from disclosure. Ms. *11-12, citing Red and Black Publ'g Co. v. Board of Regents, 262 Ga. 848, 852, 427 S.E. 2d 257, 261 (1993); Bauer v. Kincaid, 759 F.Supp. 575, 591 (W.D. Mo. 1991) and New York State Bar Ass'n v. F.T.C., 276 F.Supp.2d 110, 145 (D.C. Cir. 2003).
Related Documents: Kendrick v The Advertiser Company 6-24-16