Friday, April 18, 2014

The List Hits 210!

With a story I found today, the list of non-partisan reasons to boot Rick Scott has hit 210. To think I had thought it would be hard to reach even 77 of them when I first started the list.'

The story that made it hit 210 is worth quoting:

The administration of Gov. Rick Scott is making a unique legal argument when it comes to handing over public records: Get it from the employees, not us.

As part of a bitter ongoing legal battle, attorneys who work for the governor late last month declared that both current and former employees are the "custodians" of any text messages or emails done on personal accounts even if they cover state business.

The Scott administration and state agencies generally require that employees turn over emails and text messages from personal accounts if they covered state business. Past requests made by media organizations, including The Associated Press, as well as open-records advocates have shown various Scott administration employees using personal accounts to conduct state business.

Tallahassee attorney Steven Andrews, a persistent critic of Scott caught up in a land dispute with the state, last fall filed a series of public records lawsuits maintaining that Scott and other state officials weren't complying with the state's Sunshine Laws. Florida has some of the broadest public records laws in the nation.

In a court filing made in late March, Scott's assistant general counsel argued the administration had turned over thousands of relevant records but then added the office "does not have control over employees private accounts, and devices, and therefore, it does not search those accounts and devices for public records."

The filing then stated that both current and former employees are "the records custodians of public business contained on private accounts and devices."

That means that in order to obtain certain records the press and public would have to ask those employees directly and then potentially sue those state workers if they do not comply with the request.

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2014/04/18/5109599/scotts-office-ask-employees-for.html?sp=/99/179/#storylink=cpy

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