Ritter v. Brad Jones

From Sunshine Review

Ritter vs. Brad Jones Number: 07CV9160 Year: 2008 State: Colorado Other lawsuits in Colorado Other lawsuits in 2008 Precedents include: The case reiterated the deliberative process exemption for the state legislature.

Contents 1 Important precedents 2 Background 3 Ruling of the court 4 Associated cases 5 See Also 6 External links 7 References

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Ritter v. Brad Jones is a lawsuit filed on September 21, 2007 by Bill Ritter, the Governor of Colorado, against defendants Brad Jones and Rosemary Marshall. Ritter filed the suit in his capacity as the executive of Colorado ultimately responsible for providing copies of requested public records for certain requests under the Colorado Open Records Act.

[edit] Important precedents

The case reiterated the deliberative process exemption for the state legislature.

[edit] Background

• During 2006-2007, Representative Rosemary Marshall while working on a draft proposal for a new bill consulted a number of outside experts in labor and employment issues including certain union officials. Marshall released a copy of her draft to one of these union officials to receive feedback and commentary. This union official later included large portions of Marshall's document in a letter to Governor Ritter.
• On August 20, 2007, Brad Jones submitted a public records request for all correspondence between the government and union officials, which included the letter that contained portions of Marshall's draft.
• Marshall contacted the Governor and informed him that the draft was pre-decisional in nature and thus exempt from open records requests.
• On September 4, 2007, the governor's office provided Jones with the information requested, with Marshall's draft redacted based on exemption.
• On September 19, 2007, Jones took issue with the redaction and requested the entire memo.
• On September 21, 2007, Governor Ritter submitted the issue to the courts for determination as to whether the document should be released.
• On January 7, 2008, the court held a hearing for the case. ^[1]

[edit] Ruling of the court

On January 24, 2008, Judge Michael Martinez ruled that Ritter did not have to provide Jones with copies of the documents he sought because they were in fact work product and thus exempt under CORA statutes which protect the free flow of information under a deliberative process exemption.^[1]

[edit] Associated cases

[edit] See Also

• Colorado Open Records Act

[edit] External links

• Copy of ruling in Ritter v. Brad Jones

[edit] References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Copy of ruling in Ritter v. Brad Jones