PINE BLUFF -- Special Judge David Laser ruled Monday afternoon that Jefferson County Election Commissioner Stu Soffer "acted in good faith" in responding to a Freedom of Information Act request submitted to him by Little Rock attorney Lawrence Walker.
In April, Walker filed suit against Soffer after his request produced what he felt was an unsatisfactory number of emails related to Soffer's official capacities as a local election commissioner and as a member of the state Board of Election Commissioners. In response to Walker's request, Soffer said he habitually deletes emails as they become unneeded and therefore did not have in his possession all correspondence that would satisfy the request.
In his suit, which was filed five business days after he sent his request to Soffer, Walker requested that the court recover deleted emails from Soffer's service provider and determine which messages fell subject to the Freedom of Information Act request.
Walker also submitted separate Freedom of Information Act requests to the U.S. Treasury Department, Pine Bluff Mayor Debe Hollingsworth and Pine Bluff Police Chief Jeff Hubanks. The requests produced hundreds of emails that Walker felt should have been produced in his original request to Soffer, and he used those emails to show "that the defendant has not fully complied with the plaintiff's FOIA request."
However, Laser called the suit "premature" and felt that the "plaintiff had in mind to file this lawsuit before there was an opportunity to discuss the differences the parties had." Laser also concluded that responders to information requests must be taken "on their word" unless a plaintiff can show negligent, arbitrary or capricious behavior under the law.
Walker, represented by his attorney Crystal Okoro, said he intends to appeal the case to the state Supreme Court.
"The judge felt it was up to the subject of the FOIA request to determine what documents he should release," Walker said. "I don't believe that's the letter or intention of the law, and I think we have to appeal it. The next level is the Supreme Court, and we intend to do just that."
Soffer, in his official capacity of election commissioner, was represented by Jefferson County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Maxie Kizer, whose office serves as legal counsel for the election commission.
During Walker's testimony, Kizer questioned Walker's interest in Soffer's inbox.
"You have a client that has a vendetta against Mr. Soffer, don't you?" Kizer asked.
"I wouldn't come down here a number of times and now go to the Supreme Court based on a vendetta," he said after the hearing. "I just intend to get these emails from Mr. Soffer, and I guess we'll have to wait another day for that."
The lawsuit was filed on the heels of an episode in which Soffer drew a pistol from his pocket during an altercation with Pine Bluff mayoral candidate Ted Davis after a disorderly Jefferson County Election Commission meeting in March. That incident spurred calls by Democratic civic leaders in Pine Bluff for Soffer's removal from the Jefferson County commission and the state board.
"The suit was nothing more than continuation of on-going attempts orchestrated by Democrat County Central Committee Chairman Ted Davis to get me off the election commission," Soffer wrote in an email after the verdict.
Metro on 08/02/2016