Legal Research

Does Public Records Law Extend to Government Employees' Email ? WI Supreme Court to Decide

There is a very interesting article in the latest InsideTrack regarding a case pending before the Wisconsin Supreme Court on "whether the public's right to know what its government is up to extends to reading the personal emails government employees sent from work."

The case involves a public records request sent by a citizen to the Wisconsin Rapids School District seeking emails "from the computer [the teachers] use during their school work day" from March 1, 2007 through April 13, 2007. The school district made the decision to release the emails; several teachers objected to the release of purely personal emails that did not relate to the school district or to any official acts of government.

According the the article, "the supreme court accepted the teachers' appeal after the Wisconsin Court of Appeals certified the case in April. The teachers seek reversal of the circuit court decision and an order to enjoin the school district from releasing their personal emails."

Full post as published by WisBlawg - From the UW Law Library on September 02, 2009 (boomark / email).