Gov. Jeff Landry is denying public records requests - but giving reasons that aren't allowed in state law, our media partners at The Advocate report.
The Governor's Office declined to answer specific questions for the story, but did say they've never denied a public records request.
As he pushed earlier this year to curtail the access Louisiana residents have to public records, Landry drew a culinary analogy, saying restaurant patrons don’t need to see where dinner ingredients come from or how a meal is prepared to enjoy it, the newspaper reports.
Landry complained that public records had been “weaponized to stifle deliberative speech.” His Republican allies in the Legislature moved to carve out a “deliberative process” exemption to allow government officials to have candid conversations with one another about proposed laws and regulations without fear that those communications could become public, the newspaper reports.
The Advocate reports that, even as Landry campaigned for the change to the law – which legislators nixed amid public outcry – he already was citing “deliberative process” and “executive privilege” exemptions to deny some records to members of the public. His administration cited those exemptions even though neither of those phrases currently appear in Louisiana’s public records statute.
The Advocate's review of Landry’s first five months as governor shows that in nearly a quarter of all public-records requests his office fielded, his attorneys withheld records by citing deliberative process or executive privilege. The documents they withheld for those reasons included records related to Landry’s attempts to expand the death penalty, records dealing with the Louisiana National Guard’s deployment to Mexico and records related to Landry’s travel.
To read their full report with all the details, click here.
