skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Lawsuit Accuses Michigan AG of Using Personal Email for State Business

play audio
Play

Wednesday, April 12, 2017   

LANSING, Mich. - The state's top law-enforcement official is facing legal troubles, with his office accused of violating the Freedom of Information Act.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday comes after the attorney general's office rejected a public-records request for the private email messages of Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette and 20 of his staffers. The group Progress Michigan has contended that the private email accounts were used to conduct government business over a six-year period.

Progress Michigan executive director Lonnie Scott said the lawsuit has nothing to do with politics.

"Transparency should not at all be a partisan topic," he said. "Regardless of political affiliation, we should be able to agree that any state business should be conducted in the light of day and not shielded from the public."

The group said it learned through previous FOIA requests that Schuette and at least a dozen staffers had used personal email accounts for official work - and, despite including examples of those emails in the complaint, were told they did not exist. A spokesperson for the AG's office said they are reviewing the lawsuit.

Attorney Mark Brewer said Michigan law is clear: If state employees are using personal email to conduct state business, those messages are subject to public scrutiny.

"So, the question before the court," Brewer said, "is, is the attorney general lying about whether they exist or not, or were they improperly destroyed - or what happened to these emails?"

The use of private email by government officials has been a hot-button topic in recent times, notably Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's use of a private server while serving as secretary of state.

Lawsuit and email examples are online at scribd.com.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021