News
October 29, 2024

American Oversight Opposes Florida Gov. DeSantis’ Attempted Dismissal of Public Records Case

On Monday, American Oversight submitted its opposition to a motion by DeSantis’ office to dismiss the lawsuit, detailing the many ways the office has failed to adhere to Florida transparency laws.

Ron DeSantis
Docket Number 24-0352

On Monday, American Oversight filed its opposition to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ motion to dismiss the organization’s public records lawsuit alleging that the office has engaged in a pattern or practice of failing to properly respond to records requests. 

The lawsuit, filed in February, details 15 public records requests that had been pending for months — some as long as two or three years. Since 2018, responses from the governor’s office to American Oversight’s requests have been consistently delayed, averaging approximately 160 days, with several requests going unfulfilled. 

The requests at issue in the lawsuit seek a range of documents, including communications with certain corporations, lobbyists, or right-wing groups regarding abortion restrictions and education, among other topics.

In Monday’s filing, American Oversight asks the court to reject the attempt by DeSantis’ office to dismiss the lawsuit. In September, American Oversight filed a motion seeking to compel the office to produce documents and answer interrogatories, and asking the court to reject the office’s specious arguments for not responding fully to American Oversight’s discovery requests.

Florida has a long history as a leader in government transparency, including having enshrined in its state constitution the right to access government records more than three decades ago. But recent years under DeSantis’ leadership have seen an erosion of the state’s Sunshine laws that demonstrates an hostility to accountability.

American Oversight’s lawsuit outlines a number of troubling public records practices in DeSantis’ office, including:

  • anonymous correspondence preventing requesters from identifying points of contact for updates; 
  • failure to provide internal tracking numbers for requests, creating confusion and needless delays; 
  • processing requests in an inconsistent order, sometimes issuing responses to recent requests without any update or explanation for why older requests remain pending; 
  • failing to adequately staff its Office of Open Government to properly manage request backlogs; and 
  • ignoring requests entirely until litigation is threatened, only then “surging resources” to respond.

A hearing is scheduled for the motion to dismiss on Dec. 16. A hearing on American Oversight’s motion to compel is scheduled for the following day.