Northampton County Court rules in "Right to Know" case
September 27, 2011 – Easton, Pennsylvania – In a ruling issued today, Northampton County Judge Craig Dally found that Easton Area School District is legally obligated to turn over e-mail messages to The Express Times. The newspaper, a client of Fitzpatrick Lentz & Bubba, P.C., sought email messages sent to and received by school officials under the Right to Know Law.
The Express-Times is seeking all messages sent and received between Oct. 1 and Oct. 31 from the official district email addresses of Superintendent Susan McGinley, school board members and the Board's general email account.
The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records (OOR) previously found that The Express-Times' request was proper, prompting the district to appeal that decision to Northampton County Court. In his decision, Judge Dally upheld the OOR's ruling.
"The Right to Know Law is intended to keep the doors of government open and to permit the public to have an understanding of what goes on, especially where its elected representatives and public employees are concerned," FL&B Attorney Douglas J. Smillie told The Express-Times. "It's very gratifying to see that Judge Dally sees it that way, too."
If the School District appeals, the matter will go before the state Commonwealth Court, where the appeal of a similar request by another newspaper is in progress, Smillie said.
Fitzpatrick Lentz & Bubba, P.C., is a full-service law firm providing quality legal services in real estate, land use, business, commercial litigation, health care, estate planning & taxation, employment, bankruptcy, family law and related areas. The law firm has been named "Who's Who in Business Lehigh Valley" in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011, and was named one of the Best Places to Work in PA for 2010 and 2011.
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