Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson Fighting City Over National Conference Of Black Mayors Emails

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Mayor Kevin Johnson is taking the city of Sacramento to court to prevent emails he wrote from going public.

Johnson is fighting the Sacramento News & Review and his own city hall to keep the emails private.

Johnson filed court papers in his role with the National Conference of Black Mayors to prevent the release of emails about his work with the group.

Sacramento News & Review President Jeff von Kaenel said the move is unprecedented.

"We've never had a situation like this," he said.

The weekly newspaper filed a public information request for Johnson's emails. While Johnson is releasing 4,000 of them, he's fighting to withhold 100 of them, citing attorney-client privilege.

"I've been in the newspapers for 40 years, I've never heard of a public official ever filing an injunction or a lawsuit to prevent a newspaper, an entity or individual from filing a public information request," von Kaenel said.

Johnson wouldn't discuss the legal action.

His spokesman Ben Sosenko says the mayor is simply protecting his rights. When asked how this reflects on the mayor's transparency, Sosenko said, "I think the mayor has shown an openness and transparency throughout his seven years in office."

The Sacramento city attorney has determined Johnson's emails to the National Conference of Black Mayors should be released and they plan to do so on July 6.

But Johnson disagrees, and now the mayor is taking his own city to court to keep the emails private.

Attorney Jeffrey Kravitz says the judge ruling on the case will have to weigh attorney-client privilege against the public's right to know.

"There's a burden they have to prove that there is attorney-client privilege, and that the privilege was not waived by the mayor by giving them to the city, or in some other capacity, allowing people to see them," he said.