Way to go, county commissioners! Nothing says smaller government like legal bills paid with taxpayer dollars!
I'd link to sources but the Carroll County Times, which was recently bought, has redone its webpage and links are broken left and right.
UPDATE: JustBob finds the new URL: http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/...
Good job, web gurus. Google's cache gives only:
Media organizations awarded $92K in fees following petition
A specially assigned judge ordered the Carroll County Board of Commissioners Wednesday to pay $92,050 to a group of news organizations that challenged the board's policy of unilaterally redacting people's personal email addresses from Maryland Public Information Act requests.
The Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association's online newsletter explains:
The lawsuit began after Carroll County Times reporter Christian Alexandersen in February 2013 requested all of the commissioners' email distribution lists. For example, Commissioner Richard Rothschild maintains a distribution list under an email group "Conservative Counties," and Commissioner Robin Bartlett Frazier maintains a list called "Republic Women's Club of Taneytown." Alexandersen asked to see the email addresses on these and all other lists each commissioner has compiled.
Rather than comply, four of the commissioners filed a petition against Alexandersen in Carroll County Circuit Court. They asserted that the release of the email addresses on the list would expose people to identity theft and computer malware, and would discourage people from communicating with government by email. A fifth commissioner disagreed with the board's decision, said that the MPIA required the release, and turned his lists over to the newspaper.
The county and the four commissioners brought the petition under §10-619 of the MPIA, which permits municipalities to temporarily deny records requests if they go to court within 10 days and can prove the release would cause "substantial injury to the public interest." The provision is very rarely invoked. Following that start to the litigation, the Washington Post, Baltimore Sun and WMAR-TV sent the county identical requests, and the county filed petitions against them as well.
The upshot is that email addresses aren't secret, even when you're maintaining an email list at public expense aimed at your political supporters. Because, after all, that's what's behind it.
I suppose what shocks me is how expensive it is to contest a self-serving decision under Maryland's weak, flawed and loophole-ridden Public Information Act.
More: http://www.mddcpress.com/...