When the police arrest someone, the public has a right to know the reason. That’s why virtually every public-records law in the country requires that the police release basic information about those they’ve taken into custody, including name, address and the charges filed against them. And as long as there’s no danger of compromising an investigation, the police are required to release more detailed information as well.
But apparently that’s not how they conduct business in the town of Hanover, New Hampshire. Because when two student protesters at Dartmouth College were arrested in October 2023, the town refused to release the reports. The Valley News, the local newspaper serving that area, took the town to court. And when a state judge in August 2024 ordered the town to produce the records, local officials not only dragged their feet for a few more weeks but they also refused to pay The Valley News’ legal fees, which is required under state law.
Last week, the town lost that case as well. And thus we present town officials in Hanover with a New England Muzzle Award for gross interference with the public’s right to know. Here’s how the state Supreme Court put it in a 3-0 decision:
Having concluded that this lawsuit was necessary to enforce compliance with the Right-to-Know Law and that Hanover knew or should have known that its blanket denial violated that law, we necessarily conclude that Valley News is entitled to an award of reasonable attorney’s fees and costs under RSA 91-A:8, I. [That’s a reference to the state’s Right-to-Know Law.]
According to Claire Shanahan of The Valley News, those legal costs are in the process of being calculated.
After the records were released in September 2024, John Lippman of The Valley News reported that they revealed the two students were arrested “at the behest of college officials who wanted them cited for criminal trespass.” The students had set up a tent as part of pro-Palestinian protests aimed at pressuring Dartmouth to divest from investments “that are complicit in apartheid and its apparatuses.” Lippman wrote:
Although the demonstration was peaceful, Hanover police prepared for the students’ arrests as if they were undertaking a major police operation by dividing into double-officer teams called “arrest team 1” and “arrest team 2” which were staged behind Parkhurst Hall, out of sight of the protesters.
The students were charged with misdemeanor offenses. According to Alesandra Gonzales of The Dartmouth, the two students were found guilty and, in February 2025, were sentenced to 20 hours of community service each plus a $310 fine that could be satisfied through that service.
After last week’s state Supreme Court ruling on legal fees, Valley News publisher Rich Wallace hailed the decision as a blow for governmental transparency:
This ruling affirms a simple but essential principle: the public has a right to know, and that right must be defended. Awarding fees in this case recognizes that transparency should not come at a financial penalty to those willing to stand up for it. We pursued this not just for our newsroom, but for the community we serve — and today’s decision strengthens accountability for everyone.
Shanahan wrote that the town and the police department withheld records because of their “active criminal prosecution of the case” — an argument that clearly did not impress Judge Steven Houran, who ordered that the records be released, or the state Supreme Court.
