WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:53 — 1.7MB)
Vice President-elect Mike Pence will not have to disclose the contents of e-mails relating to the state’s legal challenge of President Obama’s immigration policy. The Indiana Court of Appeals decided yesterday that documents attached to e-mails exchanged with Texas governor Greg Abbott’s office are exempt from Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act. The e-mails included a political white paper that is believed to contain the legal theory underlying Pence’s decision to join other states in challenging Obama’s executive orders on immigration. The governor’s office chose to hire a private legal firm to pursue their case against the administration.
In 2014, Indianapolis-based attorney William Groth filed a request for the e-mails under the state’s Access to Public Records Act, and filed suit in Marion County when Pence’s office refused the request. Groth took the case to the state Court of Appeals after the Marion Supreme Court ruled in Pence’s favor. With this latest ruling, Pence’s e-mails will remain secret unless the Indiana Supreme Court chooses to overturn the appeals court ruling.
Transparency advocates did win a partial victory in the appeals court. Last April, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled in favor of the state legislature’s efforts to keep their own internal e-mails and documents secret, and activists feared the governor’s office would gain those same secrecy powers. Instead, the appeals court rejected Pence’s argument that all internal e-mails should be off limits by default, holding the door open for future requests for records. At this time, Groth’s office has not decided whether to take the case to the Indiana Supreme Court.
