Pa. court hears appeal over Senate legal records

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A panel of judges on Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court is weighing an appeal from The Associated Press over the state Senate’s refusal to release unredacted records of taxpayer-funded outside legal work done for individual senators and Senate employees.

Lawyers representing the Senate and the AP appeared before a panel of judges at a hearing today in response to a Right to Know Law request made by an AP reporter in June.

The Senate provided contracts and legal bills in August, but the names of some clients and descriptions of some legal work were blacked out.

Matthew Haverstick, an attorney for the Senate, says it’s a matter of attorney-client privilege. Gayle Sproul, an attorney representing the AP, says the privilege must be applied on a very specific basis.