Palin prevails in e-mail suit

The Associated Press reports that a state judge ruled Friday that ex-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin did not violate state law by using her private e-mail account to conduct state business. Andree McLeod, a Palin critic, had sued in state court for release of Palin's private e-mails dealing with state business under the state's public records law. Earlier this month, Alaska Dispatch obtained and published a batch of the sort of e-mails McLeod wanted to see. E-mails sent during the second month of the Palin administration clearly show then-Gov. Palin discussing state business on her personal Yahoo account. Among the examples:

-- A Jan. 13, 2007, e-mail Palin sent to then-Chief of Staff Mike Tibbles' personal account (and copied to others in her inner circle) discussing candidates for various state jobs. "I know Ryan Colgan bugs folks," Palin wrote, "but he is supportive and wants a job so he can help. Why not find a spot for him somewhere in the 17,000 state employee group?" She went on to criticize Ron Miller, who had headed the Alaska Industrial Export and Development Authority under Gov. Frank Murkowski: "Ron Miller and others who made very poor decisions must be replaced with more sensible Alaskans who will not squander public funds. My discussions with Andrew (Halcro) sure has convinced me (as I was convinced after 10 months on the trail with him) that he agrees with me that we MUST clean up state government." Halcro ran against Palin in the 2006 gubernatorial election as an independent. Weeks after this e-mail, he and Palin had a falling out and Halcro began criticizing the governor on his blog, eventually breaking the so-called Troopergate scandal that embroiled Palin as she leaped to the national stage in late summer 2008.

-- A Jan. 28, 2007, e-mail from Palin's personal account went out to a list of high-level staff and commissioners' state e-mails encouraging them to speak freely to the press. The note was in response to an item in the Anchorage Daily News' Alaska Ear about whether members of her administration were banned from speaking to the media. "I have NEVER banned any of our team members from voicing opinions on anything," she told her commissioners and others.

-- On Jan. 30, 2007, Palin sent an e-mail from her Yahoo account to several of her advisors' personal accounts to discuss candidates for Fish and Game Board appointments, including one candidate who she described as a "strange dude" who "sounds pretty crazy."

Read the e-mails Dispatch obtained:  Palin private e-mails