Media sue N.C. governor over e-mails.

• Author: Swartz, Nikki
• Position: UP FRONT

North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley and his administration have been sued by more than 10 media groups, including the Associated Press (AP), for the "systematic deletion, destruction, or concealment" of e-mail messages.

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According to the Raleigh, N.C., News Observer (N&O), records released by Easley show that until recently, several public information officers deleted most of their e-mail messages to and from top officials in the governor's press office, apparently at the governor's request.

Easley, in a meeting with editors of The N&O and The Charlotte Observer, conceded that the heads of public information offices in various state agencies had been told to delete everything going to or from his press office, but he said they didn't do it.

However, The N&O reported that at least three public information officers did delete e-mail as they had been instructed at a May 29, 2007, meeting with Easley's press secretary. The paper obtained several officers' notes from the meeting under the state's public records law. Several of the notes stated that officers were to delete e-mails to and from the governor's office every day.

The N&O also found that the head public information officers at the state's departments of transportation, corrections, and crime control and public safety, together saved more e-mail messages to or from the governor's press office in March 2008 than they did in the previous nine months combined.

The allegation that public information officers had been instructed to delete e-mails--which the governor's office and chief legal counsel initially denied--surfaced March 4 after Easley approved the firing of the head of the public information office at the Department of Health and Human Services, The N&O said.

Neither the governor nor his office has explained why the order to delete e-mails was issued. According to North Carolina's Public Records Law, all government e-mails concerning public business are public record and must be retained and provided upon request. The Easley administration's policy...