Court Rules That Palin Must Save Yahoo Emails 412
quarterbuck writes "An Anchorage judge has ruled that Governor Sarah Palin must save her emails, as they were apparently used for state business. Last week a Tennessee man was arrested over hacking one of her Yahoo email accounts. The Washington Post also reports that Sarah Palin, her husband, and officials had set up email accounts known only to each other."
Oh right (Score:3, Insightful)
That will put an end to hearing about her in the media I'm sure...
Re:Taking one for the team. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Does that inbred hick even know how? (Score:2, Insightful)
This is the last chance for America to prove it's not totally made up of braindead, religious, nutbag trailer trash. If the GOP steals this one, too..I'm moving to Canada.
It's not Flamebait if it's TRUE. Mod up parent. (Score:2, Insightful)
I take it the neocons and confused Republicans are out in full force modding today.
Mccain can't even check e-mail, and she used a fucking Yahoo account to do official business.
I wouldn't even do my personal business over Yahoo.
Wait, she had private email... (Score:1, Insightful)
She had private email, known only to her husband and children? OMG!
She should absolutely use her official email for all correspondence, including campaign and private (non-government) correspondence... Except, oh yeah, the acceptable usage policies of the Alaskan government forbid the use of government computers for personal and campaign uses...
This woman is out of control and must be stopped - she has to break the law like the rest of us do, then we can get her for that!
Re:Sooper secret email address !!! omgroflcopter!! (Score:5, Insightful)
why is a government employee sending emails on govt business through a free email account?
Why are taxpayers paying for the states computer infrastructure if she isn't using it?
Of course something dodgy is going on.
Re:Wait, she had private email... (Score:5, Insightful)
Good sir Ken,
The problem is that she used the personal email for official correspondence, which is not all that legal.
The personal account is required for campaign and private correspondence.
HTH
Re:Taking one for the team. (Score:5, Insightful)
Second paragraph FTA, friend:
The judge issued the orders at the request of Andree McLeod, an Anchorage activist whose pursuit of Palin's e-mails revealed that the governor did considerable state business from a Yahoo e-mail address -- an arrangement that avoided the safeguards and accountability of the state's secure e-mail system.
Re:Taking one for the team. (Score:3, Insightful)
It's long been policy that government officials do not use non-government email and communications methods that circumvent the official logging of such communications. What she did was wrong, and in fact just as bad as the Whitehouse administration using non-whitehouse email services for official communications.
Though the guy who accessed her emails might be in trouble, I'd like to see a jury refuse to convict him. He should be seen as a whistleblower and protected, not prosecuted.
She hasn't even been elected to the Whitehouse yet and she has shown herself to be full of ineptitude and corruption. He is a hero in my book.
Re:Sooper secret email address !!! omgroflcopter!! (Score:5, Insightful)
They've already seen boxes of emails [adn.com] from her aides to her Yahoo account. In fact, all but one email was sent to her gov.sarah@Yahoo.com account. That's the account she used for state business. It's not the account that got hacked.
Heard that before. (Score:3, Insightful)
In 2000, 2004...
www.cic.gc.ca
Go on, I dare you.
Re:Does that inbred hick even know how? (Score:0, Insightful)
I'll help you back your bags, bitch.
Re:Taking one for the team. (Score:1, Insightful)
Sorry, a whistle blower must be involved somehow and not a random third party. He would have had to had PRIOR knowledge about illegal activities BEFORE breaking into her account which he clearly did not. That kid deserves punishment. He's not a hero. He's a vigilante. Guess what, we don't allow or reward that behavior in this country. This is no different than the government executing a search without a warrant except it was some college kid who had no respect for the law.
Nobody has yet pointed to specific emails, not even stinerman above. Stinerman just quoted, condescendingly I might add, the article apparently assuming some activist we've never heard of is reputable. Until an actual email comes to light from her Yahoo! account, there is no proof and you're all just going on hearsay and conjecture. Again, that's not how we operate in this country.
Will any of our votes even count? (Score:1, Insightful)
The electronic voting machines are even dumber and will do as their masters tell them. If anyone at Diebold etc should happen to have the hots for Palin then maybe you should start packing now. Any discretions in the polls will simply be blamed on the Bradley Effect. [wikipedia.org] The side effects of such could prove most interesting.
More reasons Palin isn't ready for VP... (Score:5, Insightful)
Not only was she stupid enough to have her yahoo account password resettable by an outsider, she was stupid enough to conduct state business on this and other non-state-secured e-mail accounts.
I'm sorry, but anyone who doesn't realize that in order to be safe it ALWAYS important to assume that your emails are immediately and fully in the hands of your worst enemies is hopelessly naive. Besides the sketchily legal issue of conducting state business over unsecure email, she also copied her husband on some of it.
Seriously Palin? Talk about it over the dinner table. Sending the email to your hubbie sends it over unsecure servers in the internet proper where they could be read in transit by any number of unruly or dangerous individuals. And that's assuming that she was sending it from a state-secured email on state-secured servers, which she obviously didn't at least some of the time.
The scary part now is that if she were to pull the same stuff in the whitehouse, there would be terrorists and spies trying to get ahold of national secrets, not just the inner workings of a state government. And I think we can all agree that the resources they have at their disposal are frightening.
I'm much happier with her gambling with Alaskan politics than National Security.
Re:Taking one for the team. (Score:3, Insightful)
No, his intentions were to cause problems for the McCain/Palin campaign in the form of an epic trolling. This kid stopped when he realized that the 4chan party van would be at his door within hours.
He messed up, plain and simple. Now the media is going to have a feeding frenzy because they FINALLY have something to try to stick on Governor Palin. If this had been Joe Biden doing this we would have never heard about it. In fact, reporters would be calling for the head of this 4channer on a pike while simultaneously scrambling to demonstrate that the e-mails were harmless/irrelevant/nonexistent.
Re:Why is this bad? (Score:5, Insightful)
Shouldn't secret communications always be an option?
No, it shouldn't be. Not when a public official is acting in their official capacity. If it's not classified enough so that Yahoo mail wouldn't be a security breach, it's not so classified that the public shouldn't know about it.
And no, I don't buy into the theory that advisers give better advice if the know that the public won't know what they say.
Re:Taking one for the team. (Score:4, Insightful)
Sarah Palin on the other hand is an employee of the the citizens of the US (some people forget this) and as such she shouldn't be hiding things from us just as it's expected that any employee shouldn't be hiding official business from their employer.
But it's not even about hiding things. Yahoo email isn't secure enough for someone who may have to be potentially passing around state security information.
Her supporters are more likely to be the type that live in fear of terrorists so why shouldn't they be applauded that she's doing something to make it easier for terrorists to find out potential information to aid in attacking her state which isn't that far fetched seeing how it's one of our resource rich states meaning that attacking it and destroying, for instance, the oil infrastructure could have a great effect on the whole nation.
Re:Taking one for the team. (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't know how this keeps getting repeated. The media has been much easier on Palin than they were on Obama or even his wife. Not so much an anti Obama thing either it was that they got lambasted for going off into the trivial.
How long did they go on about "why doesn't he wear a flag pin?" Is your memory so short that you can't remember from two months ago?
McCain crying that the media hates him doesn't make it so. If he didn't want a media frenzy then he shouldn't have picked a complete unknown as his VP.
Re:Palin (Score:5, Insightful)
Thanks, you're on the same brainless and reactionary wavelength as the crazy idiots on the other side screaming "Kill him!" and "Terrorist!" whenever Obama is mentioned.
Re:More reasons Palin isn't ready for VP... (Score:2, Insightful)
If either candidate wins, WE ALL LOSE. It's that goddamned simple... but leave it to the apologists to somehow paint Obama as actually GOOD for something. The same holds true for the other side of the aisle.
If you believe that Obama's good for this country, you're as stupid as the people who believe McCain's good for this country.
Re:Taking one for the team. (Score:1, Insightful)
It's long been policy that government officials do not use non-government email and communications methods that circumvent the official logging of such communications.
And it's long been policy that said government officials "lose" official email as in the Clinton administration or deny it altogether as in Algore's "no controlling authority" statement.
This is truly a case of "everyone" does it. Perhaps the law is a good idea, but if you can't get your elected officials to ever obey it, what next?
I also think this has been misstated in the media, as Mrs. Palin has NOT been officially accused of any wrong doing.
Now, can we talk about former President Jimmy Carter's Community Reinvestment Act that precipitated the current economic meltdown?
freedom of information act (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Count me off your team (Score:5, Insightful)
she has a right to privacy
Sarah Palin the private individual has a right to privacy. Sarah Palin the Governor of Alaska has a responsibility to openness and transparency. I Sarah Palin the Governor of Alaska has been pretending to be Sarah Palin the private individual in order to escape this responsibility, then there is a problem.
Re:Taking one for the team. (Score:3, Insightful)
It doesn't take paranoia to conclude that someone breaking the law is going to take steps to conceal the fact.
Re:Taking one for the team. (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't know how this keeps getting repeated. The media has been much easier on Palin than they were on Obama or even his wife. Not so much an anti Obama thing either it was that they got lambasted for going off into the trivial.
How long did they go on about "why doesn't he wear a flag pin?" Is your memory so short that you can't remember from two months ago?
McCain crying that the media hates him doesn't make it so. If he didn't want a media frenzy then he shouldn't have picked a complete unknown as his VP.
If a political party's going to bash people for not wearing a stupid fucking flag pin, they better make goddamn sure their candidate wears one too. He didn't wear one at the convention, and he hasn't worn one in either debate. Why does John McCain hate America?
Re:Taking one for the team. (Score:1, Insightful)
I've modded you Flamebait but not for the resons you may think I have. I typically find myself with more mod points then I know what to do with and I'm sick of the negative stereotype of Slashdot where anything Pro-Microsoft, Pro-Conservative or Pro-"Anything but hardcore liberal leftist POV" will be modded down, flamed and ignored. The mod points are distributed to people that most closely match the average /. reader. (At least as far as the servers can determine.) Therefore Slashdot moderator aren't a bunch of arrogant pricks sitting in their ivory tower rainign rewards and punishments according to some fantasy world view, their average Slashdot readers.
AC becasue of mod points(obviously)
Re:Wait, she had private email... (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm with you here. Lets start with a full investigation into Obama and his various real estate dealings with Resco. Next we can take a look at Clinton and the crooks he pardoned his last day in office. Bush has plenty of his own dealings we can investigate further also.
Re:Taking one for the team. (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm a sysadmin, if I failed to run backups properly, and data were lost, they wouldn't have to prove that I maliciously failed to do so in order for me to deserve to get fired. Simply not doing so is bad enough. Same for her.
Re:Taking one for the team. (Score:3, Insightful)
It doesn't change the fact that it isn't, wasn't, and probably not even intended to be a way to skate around the "system."
If it came to light that Palin and her staff discussed avoiding archival as one of the benefits of using a non-government email system, would that change your opinion of the facts?
Re:Taking one for the team. (Score:3, Insightful)
We'd like to think so but I don't think that's true. I'm not positive but, having read the articles, this is why it is being considered in the Alaska courts and not in the Federal courts.
Don't take this as support for Palin, I personally don't think she's fit to run a day care, never mind a country.
Re:More reasons Palin isn't ready for VP... (Score:1, Insightful)
Am I the only one that sees the real problem here? (Score:2, Insightful)
Illegally obtained evidence, no matter who does the obtaining, should be banned from the courts. If not, we might as well kiss our 4th Amendment goodbye.
But, as usual, we are almost all blinded by Republican vs Democrat politics so badly that we can scarcely see the threat to our freedoms a foot in front of our faces.
Were there any damages? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Taking one for the team. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Count me off your team (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Taking one for the team. (Score:5, Insightful)
Sarah Palin shows up out of the blue, with a little over two months until the election, and you're surprised the press is all over her, her family, and anyone that knew her since childhood? If that level of scrutiny is too much for her then she should not have agreed to be on the Republican ticket. As Gail Collins said in an opinion piece, "Palin has been pressing the line that people don't really know 'the real Barack Obama,' and who could make the argument better than a woman who we've already known for almost six weeks? Really, she's like one of the family."
Re:Taking one for the team. (Score:5, Insightful)
Among a governor's various duties is preservation of official records. If they fail to do that, there is a problem. If the behave in such a manner as would lead to their failing to do that, there is a problem. If they do so deliberately, there is a bigger problem.
Re:Taking one for the team. (Score:5, Insightful)
The big deal is that she is required by law, the very same law she has sworn to uphold as governor, to follow certain rules and regulations about how she conducts her business. Had she used her work e-mail, as it were, compliance would have been enforced server side and this would not be an issue, but she chose not to and then violated the rules. If she'd used Yahoo! and followed the rules there wouldn't be a problem (well, outside of Yahoo! mail being crap...), but she didn't follow them and now it IS a problem. She may choose whatever e-mail provider she wants, she MAY NOT choose to break the law.
And before somebody comes along with "well it's just her personal e-mail address, she probably didn't even think to" as a defense of doing this... the account names pretty obviously indicate she created them AFTER becoming governor, so it's not like these are legacy addresses. It's also not as if somebody held a gun to her head and made her run for and accept the office of governor of Alaska, if she didn't want to comply with these laws, all she needed to do was not take on a job which required her to follow them.
Re:Does that inbred hick even know how? (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Taking one for the team. (Score:5, Insightful)
Ignorance of the law is no excuse, especially when you hold the highest office in your state, sworn to uphold *all* the laws of the land.
At the time that Palin was using her Yahoo accounts for govt business, she was also in the public record as knowing that activists were suing for access to her email.
Using private email accounts for public business is illegal in Alaska. Rather than deny this, surely she should be a big lady and step up to admit ... but it doesn't matter. The judge will ensure that the emails will come forth, unless Yahoo says "oops! we lost that backup tape..." like the current White House did.
Re:Am I the only one that sees the real problem he (Score:1, Insightful)
The only reason she is being forced to keep her emails and make them publicly available are that she holds office, and under FOIA she's legally required to keep her emails regardless of whether she's using a public or private email service.
The only way you're in danger is if you get elected somehow.
Re:Taking one for the team. (Score:5, Insightful)
This is exactly the point. Our system was created by the people who might be punished, so when they made it they never built in any real accountability. In a rational world, just using a private, personal account for state buisiness would be enough to get her fired. In the same way, the "I do not recall" defense has become a staple of culture, especially in politics, to the point where it is pretty clear that anyone with memory problems as bad as, say, Alberto Gonzalez, should be fired immidiately and prevented from ever working for the public again. Accountability must be restored or in the long term the negative feedback will build until we end up having to go to war with ourselves to clean out the corruption. Its fucked up, but thats how it is.
Re:Taking one for the team. (Score:3, Insightful)
This court ruling is so late they can't expect the emails to still exist!
I know allot of people who delete email as it's read to prevent this type of privacy violation.
It's not a privacy violation when it's part of your job. Her emails dealing with state business are part of the public record and, with certain exceptions, the public is allowed to have access to them. If she believes that those emails are exempt, then she can make that claim. A judge will make the final determination. She doesn't get to decide unilaterally what to make available.
Re:It's not Flamebait if it's TRUE. Mod up parent. (Score:3, Insightful)
McCain ... cannot check email because he was tortured as a POW and does not have full mobility of his arms and is unable to use a computer.
I understood that he's unable to lift his arms above his head, but has reasonable mobility below that. He can certainly write in a notebook, as we saw in the recent debate.
Given that, it seems more likely that the reason he can't use a computer is more in line with his age and that "old dog, new tricks" thing.
I don't think this matters at all though. Plenty of people don't care to use computers, and while that's odd to us, there's nothing wrong with it.
Re:Taking one for the team. (Score:3, Insightful)
"Certainly he is a reluctant hero."
It actually just shows the mind-set of the people from the left.
Breaking the law = okay, as long as it is against the democratic party...which is scary if that same idea is applied to more situations..
I prefer to think of it as:
Someone violate government officials privacy. Outrageous.
Government violating your privacy. Patriot Act.
Re:More reasons Palin isn't ready for VP... (Score:1, Insightful)
Didn't the Bush 43 admin bypass the White House e-mail system by using "personal" e-mail accounts?
Re:Sooper secret email address !!! omgroflcopter!! (Score:3, Insightful)
I'll make the quote more obvious for you
"...emails on **************govt************** business..."
Got it now?
Justin.
Re:Sooper secret email address !!! omgroflcopter!! (Score:3, Insightful)
She wasn't trading...
The idiot who hacked her account should have "implanted" the evidence, and instead of publicizing his exploit, he should have 'accidentally' forwarded the same from her account to PBS or Newyorker.
Dumb ass.
He shd have acted the same way Rove quashed the records of Bush as Air National Guard leakage.
Silent and deadly.
Re:Sooper secret email address !!! omgroflcopter!! (Score:3, Insightful)
why is a government employee sending emails on govt business through a free email account?
Because it's illegal to send campaign messages, partisan political messages, or e-mails dealing with RNC activities through a government account.
Those things aren't government business.