Posted on 11/27/2003 9:15:45 AM PST by Athena77
CHECK THIS OUT: http://www.statehouse.blogspot.com/
MONTPELIER, Vermont - Howard Dean may face a legal challenge to his decision to seal 140 boxes of official papers from his years as governor.
Today the sealed documents sit in a state storage facility in Middlesex, VT.
On September 25, Judicial Watch, a public interest group based in Washington DC, issued a formal demand for Dean to make his “full and complete record as Vermont’s governor available to the American public.” In a letter addressed to the candidate Judicial Watch’s president Thomas Fitton charged that failure to make full disclosure would raise “disturbing questions concerning responsibility and transparency.”
Judicial Watch’s demand followed an unrequited application to the Vermont Secretary of State for access to the whole of Dean’s gubernatorial records. In that application, made under Vermont’s open records legislation, Judicial Watch stated that it was prepared “to pursue whatever legal remedy necessary to obtain access to the requested records”.
Judicial Watch describes itself as non-partisan public interest organization “dedicated to reforming the legal and judicial systems and fighting government corruption” through “creative” court action. It regularly brings actions against the U.S. government. It recently filed suit against the U.S. Senate for allegedly abusing its power in relation to judicial appointments. It brought suit in 2000 against Rudolph Giuliani in connection with his fundraising practices during a campaign for U.S. Senate.
At present, public access to the Dean’s records is subject to a Memorandum of Agreement entered into by Dean, Secretary of State Deborah Markowitz, and Attorney General William Sorrell shortly before Dean left office in January of this year.
Negotiations for the agreement were conducted, at least in part, by the Governor’s Counsel and Gregory Sanford, Vermont’s State Archivist.
According to Sanford the agreement followed the pattern set by previous administrations, with a one notable exception. Dean sealed his records for longer than the two previous governors.
Former Gov. Madeleine Kunin agreed to a closed period of six years from the end of her final term, and the second administration of Gov. Richard Snelling agreed to six years from the date at which the late Governor’s term would have ended (effectively seven years and a few months). Dean agreed in the end to a period of ten years but a September 2002 e-mail between Sanford and Markowitz suggests that originally Dean may have wanted to seal his records for 24 years.
Dean’s public explanations have done little to allay curiosity. According to Vermont Public Radio, in response to a question last January about sealing records for 10 years, Dean said this to reporters:
“Well, there are future political considerations. We didn’t want anything embarrassing appearing in the papers at a critical time in any future endeavor.” More recently Dean seems to have modified his language. According to an October 2 article in the Boston Globe, when the paper asked Dean whether he would waive the seal he replied, "No, it's sealed for a reason. Every governor seals their papers, and it's protective of a lot of people who have something to do with the governor's office.” In fact, no-one outside of Dean’s immediate circle knows what the sealed boxes might contain. According to Sanford, about 170 boxes, containing in all some 550,000 to 600,000 pieces of paper, were left unsealed, and 130 to 140 boxes had been sealed and were transferred for safe keeping to Middlesex.
Under the memorandum, the documents to be placed under seal are said to be “any portions of Governor Dean’s official correspondence determined by Governor Dean to be encompassed by executive privilege”.
What action is Judicial Watch prepared to take?
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