Florida city council members have to turn over private computers
While it appears the president doesn't have to turn over e-mails produced on public computers (see below), a judge in Florida said city council members must turn over their personal home computers in order for people to get copies of their city-related e-mails (see
story). This is an awesome case, getting to the heart of what FOI is all about: Public business is the public's business, even if it's on a personal home computer. Government officials should not be allowed to hide important public records by simply keeping them on their home computers or sending them via personal e-mail accounts. This is similar to a ruling in Dallas in December where a judge said agency-related messages sent on a personal Blackberry are public (
story).