For Gannett's PNJ---- the Ends Justify the Means

Criminal conduct must not ever be induced, rewarded, or countenanced.  Otherwise it will continue and grow.

It's why when demand for catalytic converters by scrap yards, regardless of the origin of such parts, was remunerative for theives and the scrap metal markets alike--the expensive,exasperating issue of folks having their catalytic converters stolen from their cars swept the nation.  Scrap yards could buy boxes full of these valuable parts from anonymous, shifty, sketchy and unknown individuals, shrug their shoulders and say, "We followed the law--WE didn't steal these."  Then a raft of states dealt with the demand side of that illegal activity/trade  by passing laws that put the onus on the "buyers" of catalytic converters (scrap dealers) to verify the origin of the individual parts prior to buying them.  These laws also made unauthorized possession of such parts illegal.  Now these crimes are on the decline--because the inducement and normalization of the improper, unlawful conduct has been removed, appropriately, by legislators.

Ditto for scrap copper theft around the nation.

This is why it is important to deal in facts and ignore distractions as it pertains to the current issue in Escambia County of what appears to be criminal conduct by those who stole county files and disseminated them unlawfully, continue to possess them unlawfully without authorization, and disseminate them inappropriately. 

Words are important, too.  

These are stolen county records--the sort of records that mere possession of which is a crime. A theft has happened.  It is potentially criminal. PNJ minimizes and attempts to sanitize this by calling this an issue of "Leaked" files.

Worse, Gannett's PNJ condones the theft of these files by continuing to possess and publish stories from them--which will invariably induce and embolden others to inappropriately steal files in the future--  here and elsewhere--from those with whom they disagree politically.

So individual aspects of this whole sordid event must be dealt with separately.

The issue of these stolen files and their continuing, unlawful, unauthorized possession by multiple individuals and Gannett--- in contravention to state law--- is one stand alone issue that is being investigated , a court action has been filed, and soon this matter will be litigated.

A separate issue is Florida's Public Records law and how it meshes here with files that have been stolen from the county's computers while such files were in the care and custody of the county--creating a condition where multiple individuals and entities now have possession, apparently, of a complete file the majority of the contents of which are actually private and not public records. Much of  this file contains privileged, confidential, Personal Identification Information, and individual personal medical records on more than a dozen local citizens that would never be released under any public records request anywhere in Florida ever.  Gannett knows this.

1. Stolen records

2. Public Records Law

Two separate issues.  And again-- Gannett's PNJ know that.  They are also aware of the fact that in 18

years in public office I have never failed to deliver a requested public record.  I've also never had an ethics complaint or a lawsuit because I follow the rules and the law.  In short, they know  I would have provided any record they requested as I have in the past had they simply asked me for them. They never asked.  Instead--They short-circuited the process in order to attack me by soliciting and acquiring these stolen files from someone else (an"anonymous" source) unredacted.  Astonishingly, prior to publication of their first piece on these stolen files, they actually attempted a feckless "validation" of the stolen data by relying on "confirmation" that the data was identical to what former employee Jonathan Owens also possessed.  Nope, Gannett never asked the county or I for the records, they instead relied on a former employee who is now wrapped up in a lawsuit, potential crimainal investigation, and an ethics complaint over his continuing, unlawful possession of these very same stolen county files he unlawfully read, possessed, kept after his employment with the county ended and has subsequently disseminated to others unredacted.

So it appears that Gannett and some other parties are deliberately conflating these two separate and distinct issues, above, for expediency and to shield  their own individual/institutional culpability in the violation of Florida Statutes 817.5685 via their continuing unlawful possession of this county property that was stolen.  

Some inaccurately, ignorantly claim that the files in question are "ALL Automatically" public records due to their original physical location being on county computers in the county's IT department or on county property geographically after they were downloaded and copied.  But this assumption is badly flawed and has already been decided in a precedent-setting Florida case which determined that the content of a record, based upon such a record's individual contents-- not the physical location of such a record's storage---is what determines whether or not each such record is indeed a public record or a private record.

Gannett and PNJ paint the issue as a freedom of the press, free speech, and public records matter--and gloss over the theft of records. 

And this time, disgustingly, the PNJ's method in demonstrating this is to wrongly and inaccurately create and fabricate an entire article from whole cloth where they published personal conversations between me and my wife (gleaned from the stolen files)  on their front page in an effort to damage us both-proudly exclaiming that the exchange was a "public record."  

They were wrong, though.  It wasn't a public record.

Gannett's PNJ knew or should have known that these conversations between me and my wife did not and do not constitute Florida public records--even if conversations touch on county matters---because case law and precedent was recently set in a directly on-point South Florida case. So once we begin discovery and depositions I am certain questions about this will be asked while Gannett and PNJ staff are under oath.  I'm certain the emails and texts from their side on this matter will also be subpoened for the case/trial.  I believe they've once again done this purposely, to place me in a false light with actual

malice to inflict damage.  It won't work.  We'll find out. (The've done this purposely to me---over and over in the past--and I have carefully documented these previous instances each time, one by one).

Hiding behind their self-proclaimed titles of "government watchdog" will not save them here in my estimation--because what they have done and what they are doing here is wrong.  They have rewarded bad behavior (the theft of records) for the sake of damaging a public official with whom they have disagreed for going on two decades. They continue to possess stolen property and disseminate it. Moreover, they have been told the copy they possess has been manipulated.  The hash signature does not match--the source file according to law enforcement sources---indicating the file has been changed.  No matter, they publish anyway.  

For Gannett's PNJ--apparently-- the Ends Justify the Means.

But do they?  

It's WAY past time for New York Times v. Sullivan to be seriously challenged and overturned.

Otherwise unscrupulous, muckraking outfits like Gannett's PNJ will continue to "buy" the stolen "cayalytic converters" from unseemely characters, the "sellers" and the "buyers" in such transactions will win----------------  and America, media targets, and the TRUTH will lose.