Superior Court Judge Patrick McKay ruled on Friday that former Gov. Sarah Palin did not violate state law when she used private e-mail accounts to conduct state business. |
But while Judge Patrick McKay writes that Palin did not violate the law, his 14-page ruling frequently empathizes with Andree McLeod, a frequent Palin critic who filed the lawsuit.
McKay concluded, among other things, that "not all emails relating to state business are necessarily public records, and that the "use of private email accounts to conduct state business does not -- in and of itself -- violate state law."
A preliminary injunction issued Oct. 10, 2008 requiring Palin to "preserve for the duration of the litigation all emails whose content relates in any way to official state business" was also terminated. Palin "may revert to the procedures outlined in state statutes and GARRS (General Administrative Records Retention Schedule)."
McLeod filed the lawsuit in October of 2008 while Palin was campaigning for vice president.
She filed a public records request to obtain copies of all e-mails relating to official state business sent to or from Palin's state e-mail account and two private Yahoo accounts and a private e-mail account of Todd Palin.
McKay noted that "… McLeod may be correct in her assertion that the Governor was making an end-run, or it could simply be that the Governor's staff truly communicated better (and thus governed more effectively) by using private accounts … But this court is not concerned with the Governor's intentions; it is only concerned with whether the Governor's actions were lawful."
Several times McKay writes that governmental transparency would be improved if the public records laws were enacted the way McLeod interprets them, but since they are not there is no basis for judgment in McLeod's favor.
"Applying this law to a hypothetical scenario presented by McLeod, it is clear that while the public may be better served by having a stricter policy for email retention, the Governor fully complied with applicable law," the judge wrote.
McKay also suggests on more than one occasion that the Legislature might want to revisit the laws to make them more strict as to what is and is not public record.
"A great number of Alaskans may share McLeod's belief that the governor and top staff should not be communicating by unsecure, private accounts, but if such actions are not prohibited by state law, then closing this perceived ‘loop hole' is a matter for the consideration of the Legislature.
"It is not this court's job to legislate a ban to a lawful practice."
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