http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAS2NLE1ZC.html
Listrelev: accountability, email vs. paper, disappearing ink
News Organizations Sue Utah Governor for Deleting His E-Mail, Contending
It Is Public Record
The Associated Press
Published: Mar 20, 2002
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Four news organizations have sued Gov. Mike
Leavitt, contending he is illegally
destroying his e-mail.
Leavitt's deletion of electronic documents amounts to destroying public
records, the lawsuit filed Tuesday contends.
The governor is "depriving the public of its constitutional right of
access to information concerning the conduct of the public's business,"
The Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City Weekly and television stations
KUTV and KTVX said.
Leavitt spokeswoman Natalie Gochnour said the governor had not had time
to review the lawsuit, but, "We believe we are abiding by the law. We
basically view e-mail much like a conversation."
In 1998, a federal judge ruled that the White House cannot erase
computer files, including e-mail, without first announcing its
intentions and giving researchers at the National Archives time to
protest.
The Utah dispute started last year when the Tribune asked for paper and
digital correspondence from the governor's office concerning
congressional redistricting.
Leavitt's lawyer, Gary Doxey, turned down the request and said he
advised the governor to routinely destroy e-mails, many of which Doxey
said were personal.
The governor told The Tribune in November that he deleted all his e-mail
after three days.
"It's something I decided several years ago after conferring with my
counsel," Leavitt said. "In this job, I just deal with too many
sensitive issues."
City Weekly Managing Editor Christopher Smart said the demand that
Leavitt save official records is "common sense and reasonable. ... It's
clear we don't seek to know about his personal communications."
Rebecca Daugherty of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in
Arlington, Va., said whether the e-mail should be preserved depends on
its content.
"If these are records that have to do with conduct of government, they
ought to be preserved the same way paper records are preserved,"
Daugherty said. She said it wouldn't apply to a governor's e-mail asking
a staffer to bring him or her a cup of coffee.
