Liberal group sues Schuette for personal emails – The Detroit News

A liberal activist group is suing Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette in an attempt to obtain any personal emails he or staff may have used to conduct state business.(Photo: Dale G. Young / The Detroit News)Buy Photo

Lansing A liberal advocacy group is suing Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette in an attempt to obtain any personal emails he or his staff may have used to conduct state business.

Progress Michigan filed a complaint Tuesday with the state Court of Claims, arguing the Republican attorney generals office violated the Freedom of Information Act by denying a public records request the group submitted in September.

Schuette and his staff have routinely used personal email accounts over a long period of time to perform official functions, according to the suit, which cites a series of emails Progress Michigan obtained through previous FOIA requests.

The attorney generals office is reviewing the lawsuit, said Schuette spokeswoman Andrea Bitely, who did not immediately offer further comment.

The complaint filed Tuesday includes a batch of emails sent to or from personal email accounts maintained by Schuette or his staff, including at least two emails Schuette sent from his iPad. Most are innocuous messages about scheduling or meetings.

Team, lets discuss the marijuana statements. May just say let the voters decide, Schuette wrote in a March 2015 email to staff from a Gmail account, referencing a television station question over a petition drive seeking to legalize the drug. Can add to our discussion next week!

Despite that exchange and others, the attorney generals office rejected a broad Progress Michigan request for any personal account emails Schuette or his staff used for state business since 2010, telling the group it does not possess records meeting your description.

The suit argues that Schuettes office clearly used personal emails for state business on multiple occasions and claims the attorney generals office may have violated state law if it failed to preserve public records.

The question before the court is, is the attorney general lying about this or not? Or were they improperly destroyed? said Progress Michigan attorney Mark Brewer, former head of the Michigan Democratic Party.

We have proof they existed at one time, and the law is very clear that when you use your personal email account to conduct government business, that email becomes a public record subject to disclosure under FOIA.

Robin Luce-Hermann, an attorney with the Butzel Long law firm and general counsel for the Michigan Press Association, said she is not aware of any appellate court decisions that have addressed a similar circumstance in Michigan.

While the status of personal emails discussing government business is not established case law here, I certainly think you can make the argument they are public records and subject to FOIA, said Luce-Hermann, who is not involved in the lawsuit.

Schuette in 2015 acknowledged sending a campaign email from his state account, calling it a mistake resulting from his use of a personal iPad linked to multiple email accounts. The email was disclosed in response to a FOIA request from Progress Michigan, which routinely requests public records from various state offices.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday asks the Michigan Court of Claims to declare that emails concerning official government functions are public records even if they are sent through personal email accounts.

The complaint also seeks forced disclosure of emails Progress Michigan originally requested, along with attorney fees and punitive damages for the arbitrary and capricious refusal and/or delay in fulfilling the request.

joosting@detroitnews.com

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Liberal group sues Schuette for personal emails - The Detroit News