Fergie's Tech Blog

State Officials Keep e-Mail Hidden From View

An AP newswire article by Tom Hester Jr., via USA Today, reports that:

In New Jersey, the governor's e-mails might shed light on whether he inappropriately conferred with a labor leader he once dated. In Detroit, the mayor's text messages revealed a sexually charged scandal. In California, a fight rages for access to e-mails sent by a city councilwoman about a controversial biological laboratory.

Even the White House has been under pressure from Democrats in Congress over its problem-plagued e-mail system.

While e-mail and text messaging has become a hugely popular way to communicate throughout society, governments at all levels are often unwilling to let the public see the e-mails of their elected officials.

Officially, e-mails in all but a handful of states are treated like paper documents and subject to Freedom of Information requests. But most of these states have rules allowing them to choose which e-mails to turn over, and most decide on their own when e-mail records are deleted.

posted by Fergie @ 3/15/2008 03:27:00 PM