Letter contradicts Jindal administration statement on public records ...

BATON ROUGE -- A letter obtained by The Advocate contradicts a Jindal administration statement that it doesn't tell state agencies how to answer public records requests.

The letter from W. Shelby McKenzie, an outside attorney for the Louisiana State University Board of Supervisors, says Gov. Bobby Jindal's top lawyer suggested using the "deliberative process privilege" to withhold documents about budget cuts and privatization at public hospitals, the newspaper, reported Sunday.

McKenzie wrote Aug. 16 that Executive Counsel Liz Murrill had reviewed a public records request and suggested that LSU use that privilege for keeping some private, according to the newspaper. The request was broader but otherwise identical to the requests of other reporters, he wrote.

The LSU system contends that internal decision-making is protected from public view to allow for the free flow of ideas.

That's the same legal privilege other agencies led by Jindal officials and allies have claimed to shield documents about controversial and politically sensitive topics, including the governor's new statewide voucher program and disagreements over the handling of a tax credit program.

Asked last week by The Associated Press if anyone working for the governor had advised any agency to invoke "deliberative process" to keep documents hidden, Jindal spokesman Kyle Plotkin answered, "That's not true."

He also said LSU "will continue to work closely with stakeholders and make their own determinations about public records requests."

The query was, "Has Liz or anyone else working for the governor advised LSU officials or other agencies in state government that they can use a deliberative process exemption to shield records?" Another staffer emailed Plotkin's response.

Sunday, Plotkin said he had thought the AP was asking only about The Advocate's query about its public records request to LSU. In addition, the university and other state agencies have the final say on such matters, he said.

LSU leaders released internal communications about a previous round of cuts. Those officials are no longer in leadership roles at the university system office amid a continuing management shake-up since Jindal's appointees took control of the system's governing board.

Source: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/10/letter_contradicts_jindal_admi.html

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