McCrory officials push back against public records lawsuit
A Superior Court judge has ordered members of the McCrory administration to provide sworn statements in a public records lawsuit filed by a coalition of media and advocacy groups.
Posted — UpdatedAdministration officials have maintained the state's executive agencies follow the state's records law and are committed to transparency.
On Monday, McCrory's attorneys moved to delay the depositions of four public information officers while they appeal Craig's order.
Depositions were scheduled to begin Tuesday.
Attorneys for McCrory and his cabinet agencies had originally moved to dismiss the suit on the grounds that agencies already produced records in the cases the coalition cited.
But in the order formally signed April 25, Craig wrote that he needed more evidence before he could assess the coalition's claims that the administration's policies run contrary to the state's public records law, which he called "egalitarian on its face."
"Fulfilling public records requests is an intrinsically important responsibility of government agencies, and public records requests must be fulfilled in a neutral manner, without regard to the motive or identify of the requester," Craig wrote.
Craig noted "with concern and some distaste" that the press release appeared to politicize the lawsuit.
"It included pejorative references to Plaintiffs, questioned their motives in requesting public records and in pursuing this litigation, and suggested that Defendants may not assign appropriate priority to compliance with the Public Records Act," Craig wrote. "Discovery will enable this Court to determine with Defendants' policies or practices contradict the egalitarian principles underlying the Public Records Act."
The Governor's Office did not respond to requests for comment Monday afternoon.
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