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EFF asks judge for penalties in public records suit - Attorney General seeks to limit EFF's ability to obtain public information 3/25/04 News Release from Evergreen Freedom Foundation
EFF filed its lawsuit February 6 after state officials refused to release key public information related to the contract. The state initially turned over 85 pages of documentation, and was forced by subsequent follow-up and legal action to release a total of nearly 900 pages. The state also filed a motion this week, which seeks to limit EFF's ability to obtain public information related to the Boeing deal. The attorney general's motion asks the judge to require that: "All current and future public disclosure requests and related communications regarding the 7E7 Project . . . from [EFF] and [EFF] representatives must be [sent to state attorneys] for review. . . . For new public records requests, the [state's] time period to respond . . . begins after this review process is completed and on the date that the . . . agency receives the request." "EFF spent a lot of time and resources to get information released that should have been readily available to anyone who asked," said Jason Mercier, EFF's budget research analyst. "Legislators didn't even get the information until EFF forced it into the open, and now the Attorney General is trying to make special rules to prevent one organizationour organizationfrom having access in the future to information about the Boeing contract without the approval of state attorneys. They want immunity from EFF." Thurston County Superior Court Judge Christine Pomeroy will hear both motions this Friday, March 26, at 9:00am in Building 2, Room 229. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
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