Attorneys Decry Demands for Private Data in Government Transparency Lawsuit

For two years, the Minnesota Coalition on Government Information has sought police misconduct records from the City of Minneapolis. Recently, the City demanded the "full name, social security number, date of birth, home address, business address, phone number(s), education, occupation, and marital status" of every board member, employee, and volunteer associated with their group.

First Amendment attorneys, including Leita Walker, expressed concern that this request and others amounted to intimidation.

"On their face, it appears that many of these requests for information have absolutely zero relevance to the issues before the court and it seems the City is trying to intimidate, embarrass, or harass a small nonprofit and its members," Ms. Walker told the Star Tribune.

Ms. Walker is a member of Ballard Spahr's nationally recognized Media & Entertainment Law Group.

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• Star Tribune, "Attorneys decry Minneapolis demands for private data in government transparency lawsuit" 
• MinnPost, "In police records lawsuit, Minneapolis City Attorney demands open government group divulge their City Hall sources" 
• KSTP-TV, "Minneapolis wants private, sensitive information from board of nonprofit that’s suing city"