Judge orders release of settlement info

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (WWLP) - A Hampshire County judge has ruled in favor of a magazine reporter in her effort to have the Town of South Hadley release details of its settlement with the family of Phoebe Prince.

On Friday, Judge Mary Lou Rup allowed the motion for preliminary injunction filed by Slate reporter Emily Bazelon.

Bazelon, who had been represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, had argued that the public had a “significant interest” in knowing how the town had resolved the suit brought by the Prince family at the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

Bill Newman, director of the ACLU’s western Mass. legal office in Northampton, praised Rup’s decision. “The public has a right to know the amount that the Town of South Hadley paid to settle with Phoebe Prince’s parents after this tragic incident,” Newman said. “This is a matter of public record, which town officials have no right to withhold from the community that they represent.”

The 15 year-old Prince hanged herself in her South Hadley home in January of 2010, after enduring bullying at South Hadley High School. The case received worldwide attention, especially after six teens were criminally charged. Five teens accepted plea deals, while charges were dropped against a sixth.