Vt. Judge Rules on Dean's Sealed Records [Dean loses]

Mercury ews ^ | Feb. 17, 2004 | Associated Press

[John Jorsett]

MONTPELIER, Vt. - A judge ruled Tuesday that neither former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean nor the secretary of state had authority to agree to a blanket seal covering 145 boxes of records from his 11 years as governor.

Superior Court Judge Alan W. Cook said Dean and the state must identify the roughly 600,000 sealed documents and describe why each of them is protected by executive privilege. An appeal of the ruling to the state Supreme Court is likely.

"Howard Dean is now getting a lesson in government openness," said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, which last fall filed the suit seeking to open the papers.

At issue are 145 boxes of papers that Dean and the secretary of state agreed to seal for 10 years when he left office a year ago. Dean claimed executive privilege in sealing the documents, but Cook said executive privilege could not be asserted in such a broad claim.

[dc-zoo]

That's all Screaming Howie Dean needs is another loss. Time to stick a fork in him.

[Calpernia]

ROFL!!!!

Is it me? Or is this unsealing of the records going to earn Dean his very own thread here at FR?

[Ruth A.]

I'm certain this news has made Dean so happy that he: a) got into the race and b) has stuck in so long.

[evad]

..and the hits just keep on coming :-)

[TiaS]

Sounds really good, but I wonder how many times he's been in there with a shredder since the issue was raised . . . .

[Glenn]

said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch

Oh.

Nevermind.

[Phantom Lord]

Is this JW's first "victory" ever?

[Monty22]

There has been a vendetta to destroy this guy like nothing I've seen in awhile. What is going on? I know he's a kook, but jeez.

[John Jorsett]

There has been a vendetta to destroy this guy like nothing I've seen in awhile. What is going on? I know he's a kook, but jeez.

I don't know if this is a result of wanting to destroy Dean. It's pretty natural to wonder what's going on when someone slams the lid down on their papers and says, "Don't look in there!"

[tgslTakoma]

WHOA!

Dean loses his bid to keep his records secret!

Why isn't anyone on this thread?

Oh, I see it now. Judicial Watch won this case for the people. No wonder nobody's talking about it.

Now, if JW had lost the case... well there'd be a whole lot of comments.

Good work, Mr. Fitton and team at Judicial Watch!

[Tamzee]

Major Kudos for a great victory ... I love it when the White Hats win one :-)

[alwaysconservative]

Their track record has improved since Larry Klayman has moved on, don't you think?