"E-MAIL MESSAGES ARE RECORDS, TOO, HAWAII" - (An Exhibit in CV05-00030 - U S Dept of Justice vs Harmon)
Tuesday, July 28, 2009 6:15 AM
From: Bobby N. Harmon, CPCU
To: "President Barack Obama" , "U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder" , "David Farmer" , "Steven Guttman" , "Carol K. Muranaka" , "Judge David A. Ezra" , "Judge Kevin S.C. Chang" , "Judge Barry M. Kurren" , "Securities & Exchange Commission Enforcement Division" , "U.S. Treasury Dept. Office of Inspector General" , "Office of Inspector General US Dept of Justice" , "Executive Office for U.S. Trustees" , "Judge Robert Faris" , "SEC Office of The Inspector General" , "Hawaii State Bar Association" , "Hugh Jones" , "Insurance Division Fraud Branch" , "Lawrence Reifurth" , "Linda Lingle" , "Jo Ann Uchida" , "Office of Inspector General Civil Rights Complaints" , "Mark Bennett" , "American Arbitration Association" , "Judith Neustadter" , "Benjamin J. Cayetano" , "All Representatives" , "All Senators" , "Andrew Walden" , "Aon Insurance Managers" , "Arthur Rath" , "Bradley Tamm" , "Carl Morton" , "Charles Hurd" , "David Shapiro" , "Dee Jay Mailer" , "J C Shannon" , "James B Nicholson" , "James B. Farris" , "James Cribley" , "James Wriston" , "Jeffrey Watanabe" , "Jim Dooley" , "Joe Moore" , "John D. Finnegan" , "Judson Witham" , "Ken Conklin" , "Lyn Flanigan Anzai" , "Margery Bronster" , "Marsh Affinity Group" , "Michael N. Tanoue" , "Michelle Tucker" , "Nathan Aipa" , "Paul Alston" , "Randall Roth" , "Rick Daysog" , "Robert Bruce Graham" , "Robin Campaniano" , "Samuel P. King" , "William K Slate" , "Jim Terrack" , "Rocco Sansone" , "Ted Pettit" , "Laura Thielen" , "Vaughn & Lynda Robinson" , "Catbird" , "James Duca" , "Ian Lind" , "Roy F. Hughes" , "Jack Cashill" , "Marshall Chriswell" , "Laser Haas" , "Lucy Komisar" , "Democrats.com" , "Debra Sweet" , "Jane Kirtley" , "John Jubinsky" , "Yamil Berard" , "Global Exchange" , "William K. Black" , "Carole Williams" , "Susan Tius" , "Human Rights in China" , "Michelle Malkin" , "Phil J. Berg" , "Amnesty International U.S.A." , "Michael Moore" , "Thomas Fitton" , "Ron Branson" , "ACLU of Kentucky" , "ACLU Online" , "Louanne Kam" , "Fiona Tarazi" , "Eric Martinson" , "Bruce Nakaoka" , "Oswald Stender" , "Crystal Rose" , "Arthur Bryant" , "Peter Dale Scott" , "IndictBushNow.org" , "National Whistleblower Center" ... more
June 25, 2008 · Freedom of information
E-mail messages are records, too, Hawaii.
Keywords: E-mail; Public Records
Although most states treat e-mail messages exchanged by government employees like any other government records, Hawaii has no laws that require state officials to actually preserve or maintain such messages -- even if they would otherwise be considered government records.
Government e-mail in Hawaii is supposed to be kept for the same time as any similar records that are not in e-mail form. But when The Associated Press tried to access e-mail related to the misconduct investigation of the former governor's chief of staff, it came up empty because Hawaii's policy -- while all well and good -- has no legal teeth.
The governor's office said the e-mail had been purged and the state comptroller said there was no law requiring the state to keep those records. So, essentially, the AP is out of luck.
A government record is a government record. Period. Whether a study, survey, report, letter, e-mail or Post-it Note. If it's a government record it should be treated and preserved as such. And seemingly Hawaii agrees -- in theory. But without any legal basis to support preservation of all government records, the state's policy falls flat on its face.
North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley recently recommended that government e-mail records be retained for at least five years after allegations of systematic deletions in his office. Missouri Gov. Matt Blut -- in the midst of investigations over deleted e-mail -- is instituting a new e-mail archiving system in the state.
It shouldn't take a major e-mail deletion stir-up to get a state's leaders to pay attention to treatment of government e-mail messages. It isn't exactly a brand-new method of communication anymore. And there is simply no reason to treat an e-mail record any differently than any other record.
Take note, Hawaii, and others: E-mail messages are records, too.
Dear President Obama, Attorney General Holder, Trustee Farmer, Mr. Guttman, Ms. Neustadter, Judge Kevin Chang, Judge David Ezra, and All Concerned:
Due to the new discovery of facts that directly relate to this lawsuit which constitutes "prior restraint" and violates my constitutional rights of Free Speech and a Fair Trial, and Federal and State Anti-SLAPP statutes, I am adding the subject Exhibit.
Mr. Farmer and Mr. Guttman, until these matters are fully resolved, I ask that you perform your mandated review of this Exhibit in accordance with Judge Ezra's Order, and advise me, whether or not, it contains any so-called "protected subject matter".
If I do not receive a response within 15 days, I will consider this as an admission that these pages contain no "PSM", and that you will not file any objections to any Motions that I may make to reopen this case.
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