School district sues reporter to keep officials' email private
Easton Area School District is suing to prevent a
Morning Call reporter from reviewing e-mails the
superintendent and school board members sent and
received over their district accounts.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Northampton County Court, seeks to overturn a decision by the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, which reversed the district's refusal to release the e-mails.
Last month, the open records office found the messages should be provided to reporter Christopher Baxter, though they could be redacted to protect information exempt under the state's Right to Know law, for instance, references that identify specific students or list home or cell phone numbers.
Baxter is seeking all the e-mails between Oct. 1 and Oct. 31 on 11 district accounts: those for Superintendent Susan McGinley, the nine school board members, and the board's general mailbox. According to the school district, that represents about 3,500 messages.
The suit by attorney Rebecca Young named Baxter and says the request is insufficiently specific. It also argues the e-mails are not public record based on a recent Commonwealth Court decision.
In January, the appellate court ruled that e-mails stored on the personal computer of a local elected official in York County didn't fall under the public records law. Young claims the decision means that e-mails of individual board members are exempt.
Melissa Melewsky, an attorney for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, said the school district is misconstruing the appellate case as well as the "plain text" of the Right to Know law.
An e-mail sent through a government computer system is "absolutely" a record that is presumed public, unless shown to fall under one of the law's exemptions, Melewsky said.
"The Office of Open Records and the law are clear on that," she said.
A Northampton County judge will hear the district's appeal. Oral argument was scheduled for April 5.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Northampton County Court, seeks to overturn a decision by the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, which reversed the district's refusal to release the e-mails.
Last month, the open records office found the messages should be provided to reporter Christopher Baxter, though they could be redacted to protect information exempt under the state's Right to Know law, for instance, references that identify specific students or list home or cell phone numbers.
Baxter is seeking all the e-mails between Oct. 1 and Oct. 31 on 11 district accounts: those for Superintendent Susan McGinley, the nine school board members, and the board's general mailbox. According to the school district, that represents about 3,500 messages.
The suit by attorney Rebecca Young named Baxter and says the request is insufficiently specific. It also argues the e-mails are not public record based on a recent Commonwealth Court decision.
In January, the appellate court ruled that e-mails stored on the personal computer of a local elected official in York County didn't fall under the public records law. Young claims the decision means that e-mails of individual board members are exempt.
Melissa Melewsky, an attorney for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, said the school district is misconstruing the appellate case as well as the "plain text" of the Right to Know law.
An e-mail sent through a government computer system is "absolutely" a record that is presumed public, unless shown to fall under one of the law's exemptions, Melewsky said.
"The Office of Open Records and the law are clear on that," she said.
A Northampton County judge will hear the district's appeal. Oral argument was scheduled for April 5.