California Open Government Group Sues for Palin Contract

Californians Aware, an open government group, filed suite against California State University, Stanislaus, seeking the release of information related to a planned speech by Sarah Palin. The group would like the contract between Palin and the school nonprofit foundation, which the school says are exempt from the California Public Records Act.

Several CSU Stanislaus students retrieved portions of the contract from a trash bin outside the campus administration building. The document outlines perks like first-class airfare for two and luxury hotel accommodations. It also sets forth the manner in which pre-screened questions will be asked by a moderator. The amount of the speaking fee has not been disclosed.

Read more here.

E-mails Show Palin's Husband Involved in State Business

MSNBC.com and NBC News obtained nearly 3,000 pages of e-mails that Todd Palin, former Alaska Governor and Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin's husband, exchanged with state officials. The e-mails show the "First Dude" was involved with a judicial appointment, monitored contract negotiations with public employee unions, received a background check on a corporate CEO, and added his opinion to state board appointments. He also passed "confidential" financial information from his oil company employer to a state attorney.

The e-mails are available here on msnbc.com's online archive, and they are asking the public to help with the document review. "We're still going through the documents, and invite readers at msnbc.com to search for themselves, connect the dots with public issues, and send us an e-mail with your own analysis," writes investigative reporter Bill Dedman.

Alaska Judge Rules in Favor of Palin; State Business May Be Conducted through Private Email Accounts

An Alaska judge ruled in favor of former Gov. Sarah Palin in a lawsuit that urged that Palin and the governor's office had a responsibility to save email messages related to state business, even if they were sent through private email accounts.

In the ruling, Judge Patrick J. McKay of Anchorage Superior Court writes that, "The language in our case is clear — the Legislature simply chose to give state agencies some discretion in determining which e-mails are worthy of preservation and which are not." McKay noted that the statutes as currently written allow Alaska's state business to be conducted through private email accounts.

Read more here.

Palin Used Personal E-Mail Account for Public Business

The Alaska Dispatch has published a two-part series on former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's attempt to divide her public and personal life by using two different email addresses while in office. Except, it turns out the dividing line wasn't so clear-cut; for example, she discussed hiring for public positions with other government officials on the Yahoo e-mail account because "everyone and their mother will be able to read emails that arrive via that state address."

For more, click here.

Alaska's "Going Rouge" in Responding to Palin Administration Records Requests

Alaska Governor Sean Parnell wants even more time to respond to records requests pertaining to Palin administration e-mails and other information, even though some requests have been pending for more than a year.

According to the Anchorage Daily News, the excuses range from too many requests, too complicated requests, and too voluminous requests to requests that require an attorney to review the documents individually for privacy and executive privilege issues.

For more on the delayed records response from the Alaska state government, click here.

One Year and Waiting... Palin's Emails Still Not Produced

Records requests for Sarah Palin's emails made by the Alaska Democratic Party remain unfilled, even though it's been more than a year since the request.  

Alaska officials say they are working on the large request, which requires lawyers to review each email to determine if it should be withheld for privacy concerns or to protect the "deliberative process," an executive privilege granted to the governor and close advisers.  

More here. 

Ala. lawmakes can use private e-mail as Palin did, judge rules

A Superior Court judge ruled that Alaska state law doesn't prohibit the use of private e-mail accounts to conduct state business, the AP reported.

This is why states must look hard at outlawing the use of private e-mail by elected officials to conduct public business. This is a fairly straightforward legislative fix, no? No g-mail to discuss public business! Note that the court here is all but calling for the legislature to fix this.

A judge ruled Wednesday the Alaska governor's office can use private e-mail accounts to conduct state business, as former Gov. Sarah Palin did.

Superior Court Judge Jack W. Smith said in his ruling there is no provision in Alaska state law that prohibits the use of private e-mail accounts when conducting state business.

The case stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Anchorage resident Andree McLeod, who contended such use of private e-mails denies citizens the right to inspect public records.

More here.
Also, Court: Palin's e-mail practices not a violation of open records law, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

New twist in Palin hacker case

Defense lawyer Wade Davies has asked a federal judge to dismiss the four federal charges pinned on David Kernell , the Tennessee college student who allegedly hacked into Gov. Sarah Palin's Yahoo e-mail account, Wired reported. Davis argues that in Tennessee, an act must expose something inherently private and place the victim in a false light for it to be considered an invasion of privacy. This wasn't the case, he says, because "an Alaska court has issued an order requiring Ms. Palin to preserve the correspondence in her private e-mail accounts on the grounds that the e-mails are public records."

A surprise legal maneuver by the defense in the Sarah Palin hacking case could undermine key charges carrying the stiffest potential penalties.

A lawyer for the Tennessee college student charged with hacking into the Alaska governor’s Yahoo e-mail account last year says his client couldn’t have violated Palin’s privacy because a judge had already declared her e-mails a matter of public record.

“He’s not suggesting that e-mail can’t be private,” says Mark Rasch, a former Justice Department cybercrime prosecutor. “He’s saying this particular e-mail was not private or personal because of who she is and because it wasn’t intimate communication.”

More here.

Alaska Democrats fed up waiting for Palin records

The request for Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's schedules, calendars and specific e-mails was filed by the Alaska Democratic Party more than four months ago. However, the state has notified the Democrats that they won't receive the records until March, maybe later, because of the bulk of requests Palin's office is trying to sift through.

The Alaska Democratic Party says the state's repeated delays in providing public records it has asked for involving Gov. Sarah Palin are "excessive and unwarranted."

The state notified the Democrats earlier this week that it would likely need until the end of March if not longer to provide records first requested more than four months ago, on Sept. 22, during the heat of the presidential campaign when Palin was the Republican Party's vice presidential candidate.

In the request, Alaska Democratic Party chairwoman Patti Higgins sought Palin's schedules and calendars between Jan. 1, 2007, and Sept. 15, 2008.

More here.