Judge orders Fla. Gov. Rick Scott to stop fighting request for records

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Saturday, 09.06.14

Judge orders Fla. Gov. Rick Scott to stop fighting request for records

After ordering Google to turn over information on the governor’s Gmail account, a judge steps in to tell Gov. Rick Scott to stop resisting his order.

By Mary Ellen Klas
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau

TALLAHASSEE -- A Tallahassee judge this week ordered Gov. Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi to stop fighting attempts to allow Google to turn over basic information about the private email accounts used by the governor and his staff to conduct state business.

Circuit Judge Charles A. Francis last month ordered the company to disclose when the email accounts held by the governor and his staff were established and by whom. The action is part of a pending public records lawsuit filed against Scott and Bondi by Tallahassee attorney Steven R. Andrews. But the Jacksonville attorney hired by the governor to fight the effort refused to agree on the language of the subpoena, delaying it for weeks. Andrews then asked the judge to intervene and Francis overruled Scott’s attorney, Thomas Bishop, on Thursday.

The two-page order allows Andrews to seek subscriber information for the gmail accounts used by the governor and two of his former staff members, Sarah Hansford and Brad Pipenbrink.

Andrews alleges that the governor’s office encouraged staff to use gmail accounts to circumvent the public records law. He believes that determining when the accounts were established will help determine who was involved.

Scott has said that his account, [e-mail], was used to communicate with his family members, not public business, and that he has “followed the law.” However, emails to Scott’s gmail account have surfaced from his former chief of staff Steve MacNamara after MacNamara left the governor’s office.

More:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/09/05/4330560/a-judge-orders-the-gov-rick-scott.html#storylink=cpy

[merrily]

1. A judge doing his or her job is a great thing. A judge ruling like a tool of the

party that put him or her on the bench is beneath contempt.

This is a nitpick about the story, which I thought was good overall: The judge did not overrule the governor's attorney. The judge ruled against the Governor.

The attorney is in court only to represent the Governor. The Governor is the one who wants to keep the email account secret and hired the lawyer to represent him to that end. And overruling is about an objection that an an attorney might make in court to a question by from the other side, or a stray comment made by a witness on the stand, not the attorney's own entire case.

[barbtries]

3. i think that's noteworthy.

on NPR the other day instead of saying McConnell was convicted, they opened with "McConnell is appealing..."
i call bullshit. he SAYS he will appeal. but at the moment what he is, is a convicted felon. and so is his wife. it's subtle but it's there, this right wing media spin. all the fucking time and it drives me apeshit.

[Enthusiast]

4. NPR is truly National Propaganda Republican.

They have just enough objective journalism and human interest stories to deny this fact. But they serve GOP interests all the way. NPR is as dead to me as 60 Minutes.

[barbtries]

5. i can't give it up for all the good shows

but the political segments have me turning on my cd all the time. and i won't give to them. my taxes already paying to hear that shit.
i waited like 2 days to hear one of their reporters say "unarmed" with regard to mike brown. subtle, yes. but i guess i'm hyper sensitive because i yell at that radio constantly for their right wing bias.

[merrily]

7. Omitting "unarmed" from the Michael Brown story is unconscionable.

Omission is a form of slanting that is harder to spot. Good for you for picking up on all this stuff.

Sounds as though NPR needs to hear from you!

[Enthusiast]

9. Yes. The unarmed part is the core point of the story. NPR has a racist component.

Who would have ever suspected this repulsive turn of events? This is how far media has deteriorated in this nation.

Doing away with the Fairness Doctrine and enacting the Telecommunications Act was all part of a long term plan.

[merrily]

10. A lot of wingers got into allegedly public radio and television.

As to PBS, I would say a majority is still left-leaning. Then again the left-leaning of the US don't seem to lean left as much as they once did.

[Enthusiast]

11. You can say that again!

"Then again the left-leaning of the US don't seem to lean left as much as they once did."

[merrily]

6. Hard to tell if the "overruled the attorney" bit is intentional or the result of

ignorance.

If intentional, then it's clever slanting. The only one who looks bad is the lawyer; and Republicans don't like lawyers anyway.

[djean111]

2. The thing to remember is that Rick Scott believes he is the CEO of Florida. Seriously. And he has

gotten away with such utter contemptuous bullshit like this as a greedy, above the law CEO all of his life. Been richly rewarded for this behavior, and mocked the law. The GOP actually respects this. Which is why I have to laugh at those who think Christie or Walker or Perry or whoever (damn, there are so many!) are not viable presidential candidates because of legal woes. The GOP carries indictments like badges of honor. Unless GOP politicians are actually in jail, they are viable candidates. And even then, I would not bet against them.

[merrily]

8. The Florida Constitution probably makes him the Chief Executive of Florida.

Last edited Sun Sep 7, 2014, 10:30 AM - Edit history (1)

That's probably as close to CEO as the public sector gets.

Nothing wrong with being a good CEO even in the public sector. I suspect your language about being an above the law CEO identifies the real problem.

[djean111]

12. Yes. He believes he is above the law and that he can run Florida into the ground

just like any other rapacious CEO - awarding fat contracts to cronies, cutting services to the poor (employees, as it were).

[merrily]

13. The biggest difference between the Chief Executive of a state and a CEO is

that, as a general rule, the duty of a CEO is to make his or her corporation as profitable as he or she can, for the benefit of the stockholders (which often includes the CEOs whose compensation packages often include some form of interest in ownership of the corporation).

That is not to say that a corporation cannot do good deeds, but the good deeds have to be related to the ultimate benefit to the stockholders.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_v._Ford_Motor_Company

That is not the duty of a Chief Executive, who is there to serve the public, although stewardship of the state's resources is part of serving the public.

So, the goals are different, but good executive skills are important to both jobs. That is what I meant. Not that greed should permeate the Governor's mansion.

[Sunlei]

14. Those email accounts are public record, state 'gov' accounts. "gov.rls"

"Scott has said that his account, [e-mail], was used to communicate with his family members"

"emails to Scott’s gmail account have surfaced from his former chief of staff Steve MacNamara"

[SmittynMo]

15. Scott is the proverbial snake in the grass

Beware!!! Snake in the grass!!!! Beware!!!

With all the crap this guy has pulled during his tenure in Florida, I trust him about as far as I can throw my car. Pull his Email, get the facts, and get this idiot impeached. Hopefully this will be the final straw for him. Why the good people in Florida elected this guy is beyond me. Hey, we all make mistakes. Well, it's time to fix that mistake.

My wife and I were seriously thinking about retiring down there for 10 or so years. I will never allow that to happen as long as Scott is still in charge. He is totally driving the state in the ground. Gee I wonder if tourism has gone down too, during his stay?