As expected, the Texas Attorney General’s Office has denied the Chronicle‘s public information request seeking all of the clemency memos prepared for review by Gov. Rick Perry. As we wrote in our Sept. 16 feature on Perry’s death penalty record, the memos had previously been considered public information, according to then-A.G. John Cornyn, and were released in their entirety. After Greg Abbott was elected attorney general in 2002, the rules changed, and in response to another inquiry from the Chronicle, the documents were now deemed to be privileged attorney-client communications exempt from public disclosure.
So we aren’t entirely surprised that Abbott has again rejected our bid to have the clemency memos released. However, his office has also apparently expanded the scope of what is considered “privileged.” In our request earlier this year, we also asked for all email communications to and from Perry related to Humberto Leal, a Mexican national executed this summer. According to Abbott’s office, these emails also constitute privileged communication and are not subject to release. In the wake of Abbott’s decision, dated Sept. 14, Perry’s office emailed us to reiterate that it would not be releasing any email communications referring to Leal – apparently including any written to him by constituents or any other individuals outside of state government. For more on Perry’s death penalty record see, “Perry the Executioner,” Sept. 16.
This article appears in September 30 • 2011.