Its significance might have been lost on most people, but a recent ruling by a district judge in Jefferson County represents a huge victory for journalists and the public when it comes to accessing records of elected officials.

The campaign committee for state Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati sued a news outlet, The Caucus, and two journalists in an attempt to force them to pay the campaign’s accounting firm for what it said were costs associated with providing public records related to campaign spending. The accounting firm wanted more than $5,000 in fees for producing and copying the public records, and another $1,000 in attorneys fees and court costs.

Magisterial District Judge Jacqueline Mizerock, in a ruling that affirmed the state’s law on public records access, said if the accounting firm felt it should be paid for its time, it was the Scarnati campaign that was on the hook for the costs, not the journalists.

If the ruling had gone the other way, it would pose a chilling effect on the ability of journalists and the public to access public records. Elected officials could follow the same pattern of the Scarnati campaign and place records in the hands of a high-priced accounting firm, which could in turn charge exorbitant fees for the collection and reproduction of those public records.

The lawsuit came after the news outlet published stories of undocumented spending by the Scarnati campaign and other elected officials. The journalists reviewed nearly $3.5 million in campaign spending by elected state officials between 2016 and 2018 and found that many expenses lacked any detailed explanation for the spending.

The lawsuit was clearly an attempt at both retribution and intimidation on behalf of the Scarnati campaign in response to the stories outlining the undocumented spending practices. The district judge should be commended for rightfully determining that The Caucus and the journalists were only seeking public records as outlined by state law that limits any fees to copying — 25 cents per page — and delivery.

The Scarnati campaign could still attempt to refile the lawsuit, but hopefully cooler heads will prevail and this will be the end of the legal battle and attempts to block access to records that belong to the public.

First Published: October 20, 2020, 9:46 a.m.