Post-Gazette loses court fight to block state agencies from deleting emails; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 4/26/16

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Post-Gazette loses court fight to block state agencies from deleting emails:

"The Post-Gazette and other media outlets said the practice violated the due process rights of the public seeking records under the state’s Right-to-Know law.

The Commonwealth Court rejected the argument, saying the Right-to-Know law doesn’t have a record-retention requirement, doesn’t outlaw destruction of records and governs only whether existing records should be made public.

The Supreme Court affirmed the lower court and denied the paper’s request for an oral argument."

Emails are records: The state policy on deleting them hurts the public; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 4/10/15

Editorial Board, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Emails are records: The state policy on deleting them hurts the public:

"The open records law is supposed to give citizens access to information that shows how government conducts business on their behalf.

The state’s highest court should decide sooner rather than later that the email policy improperly neuters the law by allowing the premature destruction of records. Failing that, the Legislature should amend the law to require state agencies to retain public records for a reasonable period and that employees who send and receive the emails should not be the ones responsible for deciding if they’re worth keeping."