Denver Post Corp. v. Ritter

The Denver Post and its reporter Karen Crummy (the Post) requested access to Governor Bill Ritter's cell phone billing statements under the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA). The Governor provided access to cell phone bills for his state-paid Blackberry device but not to his personal cell phone. The Governor claimed that his personal cell phone bills were not "public records" contemplated by CORA. The appeals court dismissed the Post's suit. Upon review of the briefs submitted by the parties in this case, the Supreme Court concluded that the Post's complaint was "a conclusory assertion of a legal theory," and failed to make a cognizable case that the Governor's personal cell phone billing statements were public records under CORA. Therefore, Court affirmed the lower court's dismissal of the Post's complaint. View "Denver Post Corp. v. Ritter" on Justia Law