SN&R's owner chimes in on the K.J. lawsuit
Strong mayor. Weak mayor. Silly mayor.
We have had a bizarre week at SN&R, ever since learning that the mayor planned to take us to court. There’s been national coverage, including USA Today and the Los Angeles Times. Our website crashed from too much traffic. On Wednesday evening there were three local TV station vans parked outside our office. And even The Sacramento Bee, which usually ignores our existence, mentioned our name.
This all came from a simple public-records request, followed by Mayor Kevin Johnson’s nutty reaction. He actually threatened to sue a newspaper for filing a public-records request.
Now, maybe there has been another public official who has threatened to sue a newspaper for filing a public-records request—but, if so, I have never heard of it. It was certainly a bold move. And the mayor likes to be bold. But perhaps he should have looked before he leapt.
According to the machine at Raley’s that measures your blood pressure, I have low blood pressure. But mention the word “lawsuit” and it instantly goes up. But although our newspapers regularly go after people and institutions with a lot of money and power, SN&R has, over the years, had a comparatively small legal bill.
But expensive lawsuits are like tuberculosis: Just because you have not had it yet does not mean it cannot kill you. The problem with lawsuits, from my experience, is the cost. Lawsuits routinely cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. What I fear even more than losing a lawsuit is losing our company to pay the legal fees from a lawsuit.
Nevertheless, when I heard that the mayor had threatened us with a lawsuit, I assumed he was just trying Sacramento News & Review - SN&R's owner chimes in on the K.J. lawsuit - Greenlight - Opinions - July 9, 2015:
