Wis. court asked to rule on release of e-mails
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court is being asked to consider whether personal e-mails sent by public employees are subject to the state's open records law.
The case involves five employees of the Wisconsin Rapids School District. A citizen asked for e-mails they sent from their work computers over a six-week period.
The employees did not object to releasing e-mails about work but filed a lawsuit to keep personal messages private. A judge dismissed the case and ordered the e-mails made public.
The employees appealed. The Madison-based District 4 Court of Appeals asked the high court Thursday to take the case immediately because of its significance. The court has the discretion to take it or send it back.
Apr 30, 2009 at 9:30 p.m.
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I am surprised there isn't anything being raised about a blanket request for all emails for a 6 week period. I thought an open records request had to be more specific than that. As in, all emails for a 6 week period pertaining to planning and requesting bids on a construction project.
Apr 30, 2009 at 4:21 p.m.
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So then, I suppose, all e-mails should be able to be read? If this is a school district, and we are dealing with minors, and children are being discussed, can those e-mails be released?
Apr 30, 2009 at 2:07 p.m.
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copperguy,
If they use their school e-mail account, then they are public record whether they used it for personal use or work related use. If they log on to their yahoo or gmail account during school hours, well...I'm not sure about those e-mails.
Apr 30, 2009 at 12:05 p.m.
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I would think that a couple of factors need to be taken into consideration:
1) What is the policy for personal use of the computers? Are employees allowed to use the computers for personal business during their break/lunch period, for example?
2) Whether or not the emails pertain to government business.
If the policies allow for personal use of computers, and the emails do not pertain to government business, then I would think those emails are not subject to open records requests.
State statute does exempt "materials which are purely the personal property of the custodian and have no relation to his or her office."
It seems a natural question following that statute would be whether emails that are sent on the employee's own time but using government email systems are "personal property" of the person who sent/received them.
The Supreme Court should take this case in order to resolve some unclear areas of the law.
Apr 30, 2009 at 9:06 a.m.
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If they're sending emails on a government computer, and are receiving a government paycheck, all their emails belong to the people.
Apr 30, 2009 at 8:53 a.m.
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Who determines (and how) which emails are private and which are business? While it may be obvious in many cases, there will be those emails that are a mix of business and personal.
Personally, I feel that ALL emails originating from the government should be subject to open records laws.
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