Easley & Email

Easley and E-mail

A lawsuit accusing Gov. Mike Easley's administration of violating the state's public records law through the "systematic deletion, destruction or concealment" of e-mail messages should be dismissed, Easley's attorney's argued Tuesday. In a motion filed in Wake County Superior Court, state lawyers for Easley argued the court has no jurisdiction in the matter filed by several media outlets and organizations. The lawsuit accused Easley's press office of telling cabinet agency employees to delete or destroy e-mails sent to and from the governor's office. That would be a violation of state law. The administration has denied the claims.

The state's Public Records Law only allows relief when someone has been denied access to a public record by compelling a government entity to disclose the public record in the custodian's custody, the lawyers wrote. "The clear, unambiguous language of the Public Records Law establishes only a single cause of action and a single remedy," wrote the attorneys, who include Andy Vanore, Easley's legal counsel.

The lawsuit also seeks declaratory judgments under other portions of state law that find Easley violated the Public Records Law and that policies giving individual state employees the right to destroy e-mails about state business don't comply with the records law. Michael Tadych, a lawyer representing the media groups, said the plaintiffs "remain hopeful that we can get it resolved informally, but I don't know if we can." A court hearing on the case has been tentatively scheduled for June 30.

(THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, 5/13/08).