Case Title: Herald Association, Inc. v. Dean

Citation: 174 Vt. 350, 816 A.2d 469

Docket Number: 

State: vermont

Court: Vermont Supreme Court

Date: 2002-11-01T00:00:00Z

Document:
Herald Association, Inc. v. Dean; 174 Vt. 350; 816 A.2d 469

[Filed 01-Nov-2002]


       NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to motions for reargument under
  V.R.A.P. 40 as well as formal revision before publication in the Vermont
  Reports.  Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions,
  Vermont Supreme Court, 109 State Street, Montpelier, Vermont 05609-0801 of
  any errors in order that corrections may be made before this opinion goes
  to press.

       	
                                No. 2002-190


  Herald Association, Inc., 	                 Supreme Court
  Times Argus Association, Inc. and
  DiCapo Publishing, Inc.
                                                 On Appeal from
       v.	                                 Washington Superior Court


  Governor Howard Dean, M.D. and 	         June Term, 2002
  State of Vermont


  Alan W. Cheever, J.

  Robert B. Hemley and Christina Reiss of Gravel and Shea, Burlington,
    for Plaintiffs-Appellees.

  William H. Sorrell, Attorney General, William E. Griffin, Chief
    Assistant Attorney General, and Mark J. Di Stefano, Assistant Attorney 
    General, Montpelier, for Defendants-Appellants.


  PRESENT:  Amestoy, C.J., Dooley, Morse, Johnson and Skoglund, JJ.

        
       MORSE, J.   Plaintiffs Herald Association, Inc., Times Argus
  Association, Inc., and DaCapo Publishing, Inc., all publishers of
  newspapers circulated throughout Vermont, filed a request under Vermont's
  Access to Public Records Act, 1 V.S.A. §§ 315-320, for Governor Howard
  Dean's daily schedule from September 2001 to the present, with continual
  updates.  Plaintiffs sought the schedule as a means to determine how much
  time Governor Dean spends on non-gubernatorial activities, particularly
  time spent on matters related to his bid for the United States presidency. 
  The Governor denied the request, and plaintiffs filed suit against him and
  the State of Vermont, as 

 

  authorized by § 319(a) of the Act.  The trial court entered summary
  judgment in favor of plaintiffs, ruling that the Governor is not entitled
  to claim executive privilege with respect to his daily calendar because it
  does not reveal information relating to policy or the Governor's
  decision-making process.  Defendants claim on appeal that the calendar is
  exempt from disclosure because (1) it is not a public record under the Act;
  (2) the common law executive privilege permits the Governor to withhold it
  from the public; and (3) the record falls within the Act's so-called
  security exception, § 317(c)(25).  We affirm in part, and vacate and remand
  in part.

       Because the superior court disposed of this matter on summary
  judgment, we review the order using the same standard the lower court
  employed.   White v. Quechee Lakes Landowners' Ass'n,170 Vt. 25, 28,