Judges' e-mail privacy at issue

The state's highest court considers whether the public can read judges' electronic mail.

By DAVID KARP, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 7, 2002

The justices of the Florida Supreme Court considered a constitutional issue Wednesday that could reach close to their own lives: Does the public have the right to read judges' e-mails?

The court heard arguments Wednesday in a case brought by the Tampa Tribune to gain access to e-mails gathered by former Chief Judge F. Dennis Alvarez, who was looking into sexual harassment allegations about former Circuit Judge Edward Ward.

The Tribune argued that the sexually suggestive e-mails became public records when Alvarez gathered them and tried to settle the allegations between Ward and several female judicial assistants and judges.

The state agency that regulates judges charged Ward with misconduct in 2000. Ward resigned later that year.

"This case involves public officials, public access and public scrutiny," said attorney Gregg Thomas, who represents the Tribune.

Solicitor General Tom Warner, who represented the state, also argued that the Constitution's public records provision mandated disclosure of the e-mails.

But several justices asked how far a request for e-mails might go. Justice Peggy Quince asked if her e-mail to Justice Barbara Pariente, inviting her to dinner, would become a public record.

No, the lawyers said. Only records that concerned official business were subject to the constitution's open records provision. Ward's sexually suggestive e-mails became public once Alvarez gathered them and conducted his own investigation.

Attorneys representing Alvarez and the conference of Florida judges made a more practical appeal to the justices.

If the Tribune won the suit, scandalous stories about judges' sex lives might get splashed on the front page of newspapers.

"We leave this with those of you who, like us, live in the real world," said Dexter Douglass, who represented the Florida Conference of Circuit Court Judges.

Douglass argued that the justices should keep the e-mails private to protect the dignity and the independence of the judiciary. Judges should be protected from "unreasonable intrusion by the press or anyone else," he said.

-- Times Staff Writer Anita Kumar in Tallahassee contributed to this report.

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