Can I please get help with a response to this discussion

In 2018, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) released a report that had decades of information on NYSP personnel that had misconduct reports, however, they failed to include all names of personnel that had accusations against them or the NYSP did not discipline them (NYCLU, 2024). Following the discovery of the missing information, NYCLU filed a FOIL request to retrieve the rest of the reports.

The New York State Police did not oblige and refused to provide the information requested, leading to NYCLU filing a lawsuit against them. NYCLU filed the lawsuit under the pretense that the NYSP was withholding public information (NYCLU, 2024). I think their actions were both questionable, but also ethical regarding the FOIL request. I think that if there were no findings of the investigations, and the personnel were not disciplined, it shouldn't be a large issue to release the information. I think it would also be beneficial to release this information in the event an individual working in this agency behaved in a continuous manner that brought up these accusations, misconduct scenarios, etc. On the other hand, I can see it being ethical because no disciplinary actions were taken against these individuals, and the accusations were not founded. The release of this information could tarnish that individual's reputation both professionally and personally.

A recommendation on what the organization/leadership could do differently to act in a more ethically transparent manner would be to provide the information, but ensure it is clearly noted that investigations did not find any evidence supporting the accusations. What recommendations do you all have?