Scott Walker’s Office Seeks Access to Critical Professor’s Email

[eowyn_of_rohan]

(by E.D. Klein - American Times - Forbes)

If you missed William Cronon’s Times op-ed on Scott Walker the other day, go read it now. This last bit jumped out at me:

"The turmoil in Wisconsin is not only about bargaining rights or the pension payments of public employees. It is about transparency and openness. It is about neighborliness, decency and mutual respect. Joe McCarthy forgot these lessons of good government, and so, I fear, has Mr. Walker. Wisconsin’s citizens have not."

There is some bitter irony in this, especially with the invocation of McCarthy. You see, as it turns out, Scott Walker’s office wants access to professor Cronon’s email. Apparently this, and an accompanying blog post, are all it takes to bring down the Thought Police:

Less than two days after Cronon published the blog post, the Wisconsin Republican Party filed a state open records request to gain access to Cronon’s personal emails to get a look at what communications had gone into the blog post.

Now, ‘personal’ is up for some reasonable debate here. This is his university email. And he’s a Professor at the University of Wisconsin, the state university. So he’s a state employee. Still, he’s not an elected official or someone doing public business in the sense you’d ordinarily understand the term. Nor are they looking at anything tied to the administration of the University. The range of requested documents leave no doubt about what they’re after.

...I will have a great deal more to say on ALEC, the very influential conservative organization and subject of Cronon’s musings, at a later date. The organization is also heavily involved in some of the controversial legislation in Arizona, and in privatizing prisons. Should be good.

http://blogs.forbes.com/erikkain/2011/03/25/scott-walkers-office-seeks-access-to-critical-professors-email/

Great links to:

* Professor Cronon's op-ed piece from the NY Times
* to his RESPONSE to this assault -- "Abusing Open Records to Attack Academic Freedom"
* to info on ALEC (American Legislative Exchage Council) the very influential conservative organization and subject of Cronon’s musings.

[Angry Dragon]

1. Dictator Walker

[roguevalley]

7. then it can be reversed. Walker, gov employee, etc. get a filing

on his personal email.

[Jackpine Radical]

10. Remember that these guys are smart enough to conduct their nastiest communications

via private email accounts.

That's the way Rove set up his gang operation at the White House, remember. Those systems are immune to FOIA/Open Records.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

14. Walker is after email done on state hardware

A not so subtle difference

[buddysmellgood]

2. So apparently the GOP wants everyone to focus on ALEC.

They must have known this would trigger a response.

[meegbear]

3. Then by extension, Walker is a state employee and all his emails should be accessible to everyone

[HereSince1628]

5. The ones on state systems most certainly are.

That was established in court, and resulted in Walker coughing up emails he claimed supported his union busting.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

13. Technically they already are

State version of FOIA...

Moreover anything done via a work provided computer is open to the employer. The Gov is the CEO of the state.

It is trivial to carry a netbook for personal comms. Not doing it is stupid at best.

[Pharaoh]

4. Walker is a true Fascist~ n/t

[Kber]

6. Chilling.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

8. oops - this is a dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=736671&mesg_id=736671

Sorry about that - didn't see the original post on the subject.

[Jackpine Radical]

9. Wow. I just read through the whole thing, including comments.

It's would be more of a mind-blower if it weren't just another very graphic illustration of the Corporate State's all-encompassing slash-&-burn power grab and global pillaging raid. We sheep had better learn to look up, and damn fast.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

11. Hopefully as this movement opens people's eyes it will also inspire a thirst for more knowledge

connect the dots...and RAGE against the System!

[Jackpine Radical]

22. Amen to that.

Hell, I'm old. I could probably sit back & live out the rest of my life before it all comes crashing down, but something in me won't settle for that. I.ve been doing this stuff since got back from Vietnam in '68, and I figure I still have one more good fight in me.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

23. Yes, I hear you. I wondered if I had it in me anymore

after so much disillusionment and disappointment during the bu$h regime. This uprising of the people - in our own state yet - is the shot in the arm that I needed. I feel rejuvenated and with purpose again. :toast:

[ProgressiveProfessor]

12. The university email system is not "personal"

Any email provided by your employer is open to that employer. It has been that way for years. Cronon should have known that and it is not an academic freedom issue. To claim that demeans the concept.

The correct approach is to use a private system like a netbook. Encrypt (https will do) comms between the client and the server. At that point the email is private and even if captured impossible to read.

[starroute]

15. Universities also provide email addresses to their students

Do they not have any privacy rights either? It's all part of the same system.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

17. The role there is more that of an ISP, not employer.

They could be told by the court to preserve and later surrender emails, traffic logs etc.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

16. Do you feel that this represents an abuse of a state email account?

Interested in your take on it.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

18. Depends on policy in place at the time

Most employers allow incidental use of both the network and services for less than strictly work purposes. That means you are free to make a date for lunch, confirm when you will be home for dinner, or browse the web on their equipment. Many employers also require a signature on an acknowledgment of those policies which includes logging and access to all data. No idea if that was the case here.

It all boils down to...if you value your privacy, use your own hardware.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

19. Since he was researching for a publication he was working on

would that be considered part of his role and duty as a professor? I am thinking of the saying "publish or perish" - and the responsibility of a professor to contribute original research in his field. (?)

[ProgressiveProfessor]

20. Was the piece that garnered all this attention scholarly research?

It really does not matter if it was done on state owned equipment.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

21. He claims it was - that's how I read it.

Can he use state owned equipment for scholarly research?

[gkhouston]

28. Yes. He's a scholar. It's *expected* that he'll use state-owned equipment for

that purpose. Having read his blog, he pretty much damns what Walker and others like him are doing in a scholarly way. He points out when he links to websites that he considers are left-leaning, and offers to add links to more conservative ones, if people will send him appropriate links. He's written an analysis, not a screed. The problem is that the right doesn't want their actions scrutinized.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

29. Regardsless of content, his usage of state equipment means it is open to the Governor getting access

to the contents

[eowyn_of_rohan]

31. He seems to feel he has nothing to hide.

hopefully they won't find anything...

[Viking12]

24. I think you're overlooking the obvious intent to intimidate...

While what you say about technology use policies is true, it is a tangential issue in this case. What we have here is a clear abuse of FOIA to facilitate a fishing expedition that will be used to personally attack a particular individual not to cast sunshine on governmental actions.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

26. take a look at the thugs' retort - next post

[eowyn_of_rohan]

25. UPDATE - GOP defends request for professor’s emails

...Cronon, who is president-elect of the American Historical Association, says he believes the request for his emails is a GOP fishing expedition to locate "ammunition <...>to embarrass, undermine, and ultimately silence me." Cronon says he thinks the GOP is trying to catch him violating a university policy that forbids professors from using e-mail to "support the nomination of any person for political office or to influence a vote in any election or referendum"--a rule he says he hasn't broken.

The Republican Party of Wisconsin's Executive Director Mark Jefferson shot back in a statement released to The Lookout, alleging that is Cronon who is trying to intimidate, not the other way around. "Like anyone else who makes an open records request in Wisconsin, the Republican Party of Wisconsin does not have to give a reason for doing so," he said.

..."I have never seen such a concerted effort to intimidate someone from lawfully seeking information about their government. Further, it is chilling to see that so many members of the media would take up the cause of a professor who seeks to quash a lawful open records request. Taxpayers have a right to accountable government and a right to know if public officials are conducting themselves in an ethical manner. The Left is far more aggressive in this state than the Right in its use of open records requests, yet these rights do extend beyond the liberal left and members of the media," he added.

The GOP is asking for all emails from Cronon's university account that name any of the eight Republican lawmakers who are facing petition campaigns to be recalled, as well as the words "Republican, Scott Walker, recall, collective bargaining, AFSCME, WEAC, rally, and union."

[gkhouston]

27. Will they next be filing a blanket FOIA on the email accounts of every state employee? n/t

[Raksha]

30. K & R, bookmarked.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

32. kick