It's understandable for the lay person to have a partial, incomplete understanding--because there is a lot to it.
But some that should know what a public record is apparently do not.
I have a very firm understanding of public records requirements as an 18 year public official who has been subject to this law for 18 years. So what precisely is and what is not a public record?
Personal, private, and confidential information shared between a sitting commissioner and his family, his children, his lawyer, and other individuals unassociated with the county via text messages on his privately-owned and paid for cell phone (or even on a county-owned device) are not releasable public records. Period. They are private.
Business related text messages unrelated to county matters are similarly NOT public records.
Legitimate public records can be contained on a commissioner's private cell phone and or on his county-owned cell phone, and thus the impetus to preserve these should they be the focus of a public records request of a commissioner or any public official.
Because a commissioner uses his personal cell phone for personal, private business, and county business purposes in order not to have to carry around three cell phones does not automatically make everything contained on a cell phone a releasable public record.
Similarly--a commissioner's private home computer in his home might contain public records related to county business. However--everything else on that private device is not a public record. If someone hacks an individual's personal home computer and disseminates all such records, slipping such data on a thumb-drive under someone's door, from said home computer to someone who works for the county---the entire content of such an inappropriately obtained file is not suddenly a public record.
So, if a cell phone, used for all three purposes and one that does, indeed, contain a small percentage of public records within it suddenly has technical issues--it is entirely appropriate to seek resolution from county IT personnel to preserve the small number of public records contained therein.
If a batch file of such records from a commissioner's cell phone, preserved at such a commissioner's express request on one copy only, is stolen or otherwise downloaded and without authorization disseminated and released unredacted--replete with social security numbers, medical information, attorney-client privileged conversations, etc.----such reckless, irresponsible conduct by any public employee might actually be a crime.
When such an event occurs--it is natural it would be investigated. What else might have been stolen, illegally downloaded, and unlawfully possessed, maintained, manipulated or disseminated?
That's the million dollar question.
6 comments:
Here's the best part: wanna know where there is VERY clear judgment and precise explanation on what's public record and what's not?
David Bear's federal case against Doug for withholding public records, where he is getting his ass handed to him because he flagrantly violated public record law in just about every way a human being could possibly conceive.
(Yes, he's saying he won that case. His lips are moving...what do you expect? The judge didn't rule in David Bear's favor on the blocking on Facebook; and she had said from the get-go she was none too keen to wade into the social media stuff. Two different facets of the suit: Facebook blocking vs. PUBLIC RECORD. Jacqueline, don't you know how to navigate PACER, you researching guru you? Or are you just continuing to assist Doug in spreading his lies? Lose/lose...either you're really not all you're cracked up to be without Doug feeding you into from the County, or you know how to navigate PACER and we're witnessing your lying eyes. BTW, you're misusing that phrase. See my correct use.)
Very glad to see that Judge Rogers and her excellent magistrate Hope Cannon are on this case as well. Because they have already been schooled through dealing with Underhill on every way that syndicate of Edler, Owens, Underhill, and Jacqueline Rogers try to twist up the clear law on public record--along with everything else.
Anybody still doubt that the D2 office was pushing for Edler's suit against me?
We have always said that if the shit ever really hit the fan, Doug would throw Jonathan under a bus in a hot minute. The fingerprints of his plans for that escape hatch are everywhere, including the database of public records they kept with an "Importance" column from 1-5 (mine were scored 0).
Who was the administrator of that database? You guessed it, head Pencil Sharpener Jonathan Owens.
This is gonna get interesting, especially as Jacqueline Rogers and Alex Arduini have been dropping hints for a long time that they've had access to these records.
As I said at Thursday's meetings, Jacqueline and anybody else PMing with Doug should never forget that those messages have been turned over to the court. Thousands and thousands of pages of them.
Oh and ps Jacqueline, if and when all those public record messages between you and Doug come out, will there be any discussions of meetings and votes and the people at the meeting between you and Doug during the meetings?
Your hypocrisy is frighteningly pathological.
OMG I'm listening to number one knob polisher Andrew McKay "interviewing" Jonathan Owens. In the lead in he
--says poor Jonathan got "dragged into" this
--refers to Jonathan as the past "Chief of Staff" for D2
Jonathan...
--"didn't think much more about" sending a thumb drive to Edler's attorneys
--the thumb drive just "showed up in his office"
--he assumes "it showed up in multiple people's offices"
--he brings up the empty box that Dildo Doug sent to himself as context
--he pretends that it's not okay to conduct County business off of personal phones (of course there's nothing unethical or illegal about it, and Doug and Jonathan did that all the time, finally employing Signal on their personal cell phones they conducted business from)
--he claims he has NO IDEA how that thumb drive came to be in his office.
--he claims he is ignorant of whether it showed up in other people's offices (because they wouldn't have asked that of the administrator or attorney--riiiiiiiight)
--he admits he just held onto it because "there's no policy" (nobody notified or reported to on it)
--Andrew is such an idiot or liar that he claims to be perplexed as to why these could indeed be ruled inadmissible (hint: provenance)
--Jonathan segues to the public records case Doug is losing badly in federal court to David Bear, but fails to mention that Doug makes the argument *exactly* that the court *HAS* to know the provenance of the records in that very suit--if memory serves, he said that while testifying or under depo. As a result multiple third parties got in on retrieving Doug's messages, which he claimed he couldn't retrieve.
--Jonathan boxes himself into a corner by correctly defining public record per content--which is exactly why he had no business turning over the personal messages to the lawyers and everybody else he might have shared them with
--He claims he has been telling the same story from the first time that Scott MacDonald contacted him
Andrew...
--asks why the FBI is involved?
Jonathan...
--takes the tired out Trump line, insinuating DEEP STATE and calling it "miniscule" (as opposed to a baby monitor planted in a fern with a pretense it's a listening device necessitating FDLE dogs on the Fourth Floor)
--Blathers on about perhaps law enforcement is involved because something might have been illegally removed from a server--DOH! (Remember, it has always been an Underhillian tactic to get in front of something by floating it as a possibility)
Andrew and Jonathan...
--continue to run on as if this is an issue of Bergosh not turning over public record, when that has nothing to do with it
--(Jonathan, I've still got messages in my email with Doug conducted County business from digdug)
--Jonathan baits Andrew into PRRing any County records from Jeff's phone. OH BOY HOW SCARY hahaha
--He puts out some teasers on the Clerk case and the paramedic case
How sweet that Andrew is anointing Jonathan to replace Doug in the passenger seat of his clown car hahaha What a pair.
Has anybody gotten junior Collin's take on this? PNJ editorial team better get on that...
I'll continue to post the obvious for the reality-addled and hopelessly gaslit over on ECW. (Joel: keep in mind that Jacqueline knows exactly what is going on, and is playing you by baiting you into commenting what she won't say in print. You aren't inner sanctum on this; she is.)
Florida statute 812.014, on stolen property:
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0800-0899/0812/Sections/0812.014.html
Here is the very first section of that statute (asterisks and caps my emphasis):
"(1) A person commits theft if he or she knowingly obtains or **USES**, or endeavors to obtain or to use, the property of another with intent to, either temporarily or permanently:
(a) Deprive the other person of a right to the property or a benefit from the property.
(b) **APPROPRIATE THE PROPERTY TO HIS OR HER OWN USE OR THE USE OF ANY PERSON NOT ENTITLED TO THE PROPERTY.**
So Jonathan has already admitted, Trump style, that he broke the law, both in print news and during Andrew McKay's interview.
Moreover, when Andrew messed up on his whitewashing programming and asked Jonathan if he had reported receiving the drive, Jonathan is on record saying no. (Note that when Jonathan careened into even more dangerous territory trying to expand on there being no protocol, the break music immediately came on, he shut up quick, and they changed the subject after break.)
Of course Edler's attorneys should be concerned with (1) the private content of what Jonathan gave them; and (2) the provenance.
You can't submit things to a court docket unless there is an official source of the record that can somehow be verified.
How would the court know if Jonathan and Doug had doctored the text messages? Which is, by the way, the same argument Doug employed in his own public records case--to a legally absurd degree.
What's good for the goose is good for the gander, boys. Guess you guys didn't get the memo that while your koolaid drinkers may still buy into your lies and legal mumbo jumbo, judges have had it with their courtrooms being turned into three ring political circuses where defendants attempt to disinformation the public through the court docket. How many lawyers have been sanctioned, have lost their ability to practice, are being actively investigated for their participation in criminal activity, and are considered criminal co-conspirators at this point?
Please keep talking, Jonathan. Where's Doug? How come he isn't running to your defense? You got a big grifting PAC preying on brainwashed masses like Trump does to pay your legal fees?
How much you good for, Joel?
This post and these comments didn’t age well.
Cmon Jeff. I've supported you on many things and generally align with your position, but "...in order not to have to carry around three cell phones" is not a legitimate reason to not have a county phone like everyone else in government. Get yourself one of those chic little cross-body bags and align your behavior in a way that serves your constituents' right to transparency. It'd save you a lot of heartache. And I think would go really well with your eyes. You're not above the rules.
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