A sharply divided Commonwealth Court has ruled that the Governor has no obligation to produce his daily schedule, at least to the extent that doing so would reveal "predecisional deliberations." This 4-3 decision comes in response to an open records request made by Associated Press reporter Mark Scolforo. Previously, the state Office of Open Records had ruled in favor of disclosure.Interestingly, both the Majority and Minority Opinions are written by judges from the Lehigh Valley. Renée Cohn Jubelirer, who wrote on behalf of four judges, is a former South Whitehall Township Commissioner who served as an attorney for Lehigh County. Writing for the Minority, Robert "Robin" Simpson is a former Northampton County judge.
While acknowledging that the Right-to-Know is designed to prohibit secrets, scrutinize the actions of public officials, and make them more accountable, Judge Jubelirer reasons that compelling disclosure in this case would "eviscerate" the "predecisional deliberation" exemption. In this case, the matter was remanded to the state Open Records Office for an in camera determination whether the records excluded really would reveal inside baseball.
But Judge Simpson, noting that the Governor's Office had already submitted an Affidavit, concludes that Jubelirer's decision creates a "new, time-consuming process" that "rewards vagueness and burdens requesters."
I suspect this case is headed to the Court of Final Error.
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