Warren Porter Emails

Lisa Hull is the records custodian for UW-Madison to whom your request should be made. I am copying her here and she will be in touch with you.

Jennifer Sloan Lattis
Deputy General Counsel
University of Wisconsin System Administration
Office of General Counsel
1802 Van Hise Hall
1220 Linden Dr.
Madison, WI 53706
(608) 262-0747 phone
(608) 263-3487 fax
____________________________
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We have received your public records request and will respond as required by the Wisconsin Public Records Law.

Lisa Hull
Public Records Custodian
UW-Madison
Office of Compliance
608-890-4881

Dear Mr. Neidenbach,

In response to your public records request of January 29, 2016, copied below, in which you asked for "[a]ll emails to and from Warren Porter containing any of the following terms; 'gmo' 'pigs' 'cerestrust'" the University denies your request for the following reasons.

Pursuant to the Wisconsin public records law, "a request for a record without a reasonable limitation as to...length of time represented by the record does not constitute a sufficient request." Your request does not specify any period of time for the emails you seek. Therefore, pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 19.35(1)(h) and the case law interpreting it, your request is insufficient and impermissible under the public records law.

In addition to being insufficient as to length of time, your request is unduly burdensome.

Dear Lisa, Claire and Stephan,
I don't know Angie Carter & have never corresponded with her or had any
conversations with her in person or by phone or any other medium of
communication.
I have no email folder on her & a search of her name in my past emails
in my queue or sent comes up empty.
Best wishes,
Warren

Mr. Neidenbach,

The Wisconsin Public Records Law allows the University to charge a requester the actual, necessary, and direct cost to locate responsive records. Wis. Stat.§ 19.35(3)(c). In addition the University may require prepayment of any fees if the total amount exceeds $5.00. Wis. Stat.§ 19.35(3)(f). Location fees were calculated at the hourly salary rate for the lowest-paid employee capable of performing the task.

The University has calculated a good faith estimate of the cost to search for records responsive to your request. That cost is $241.65.

This amount was calculated using the rate for actual, necessary and direct charges for staff time and does not include the additional time necessary to review potentially responsive records for possible redaction or removal of confidential information, which are separate processes for which a requester may not be charged. We require prepayment of these location costs before conducting the search for responsive records.

Until we receive this prepayment, the University will not process your request. Once payment is received, we will process your request and determine the exact cost of searching for any records responsive to your request. If the cost is greater than $241.65, we will require payment of any overage. If the cost is less, we will refund the balance to you. If we do not receive payment within 14 days of today, that is by April 7, 2016 we will close this request and consider it withdrawn.

Please make your check or money order payable to “UW-Madison,” (we cannot accept credit cards) and send it to:

UW-Madison Office of Compliance
Lisa Hull
Room 94 Bascom Hall
500 Lincoln Drive
Madison WI 53706

Sincerely,

Lisa Hull
Public Records Custodian
UW-Madison
Office of Compliance

Mr. Neidenbach,

The estimated cost of search time that we provided to you, below, is only and exactly that. The estimated time to search for the records you’ve requested. It should not be construed to imply that any records exist which are responsive to your request, because without doing a search we don’t know. Again, it is simply the recoverable cost to search, as allowed by Wisconsin’s Public Records Law. Once we receive payment, I will ask that the search be done, and we will then review any records returned in the search results for responsiveness.

Lisa Hull
Public Records Custodian
UW-Madison
Office of Compliance

Your request is in process. We have been investigating email retrieval options. Professor Porter is expecting to work on this after the instructional year is over. Probably around the end of May.

Lisa Hull
Public Records Custodian
Office of Compliance
UW-Madison

Thank you for your follow up. Your request is in progress.

Lisa Hull
Public Records Custodian
Office of Compliance
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Mr. Neidenbach,

In response to your public records request of March 3, 2016, copied below, in which you ask for emails in Warren Porter's possession which containing a number of search words, please see the attached document.

Please note the following redactions have been made to these records, or records have been withheld in their entirety as allowed by the Wisconsin Public Records Law (Wis. Stat. §§ 19.31 - 19.39):

1. Personal contact information. The university has redacted personal contact information pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 19.36(10)(a), and pursuant to the balancing test inherent in the Wisconsin public records law. With regard to the redactions made pursuant to the balancing test, we have concluded that the public interest in this information is outweighed by other public interests favoring the protection of such information. While the identities of persons communicating with University employees is the type of information the public has an interest in, there is no similar interest in the personal contact information of those individuals. Given the negligible public interest in this information, and mindful of the fact that when subject to public release, personal contact information may be used to harass and or commit identity theft, this information has been withheld.

2. Purely personal information. Purely personal information has been redacted pursuant to the Wis. Stat § 19.35 (1)(a) balancing test. In applying the balancing test, we have concluded that any public interest in the disclosure of this purely personal information evincing no violation of law or policy is outweighed by public policies recognizing the privacy interest of individuals in matters unrelated to the conduct of government business. See Schill v. Wisconsin Rapids School District Schill, 2010 WI 86 ¶ 9 & n. 4 (Abrahamson, C. J., lead op.); id. ¶ 148 & n. 2 (Bradley, J., concurring); id. ¶ 173 & n. 4 (Gableman, J., concurring), 327 Wis. 2d 572, 786 N.W. 2d 177. We have reviewed the personal information and concluded that it evinces no violation of law or policy.

3. Copyright. We have withheld documents protected by copyright. Under Wisconsin Statute Section 19.32(2), a record under the public records law "does not include...materials to which access is limited by copyright." Therefore, the public's right under the records law does not extend to these documents.

The University is required to inform you that to the extent this amounts to a denial of your request it is subject to review by mandamus under Wis. Stat. § 19.37(1)(a) or by application to the attorney general or district attorney pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 19.37(1)(b).

Sincerely,
Lisa Hull
Public Records Custodian
Office of Compliance
University of Wisconsin-Madison

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This request was responded to and closed on June 21, 2016. The records were sent to this address:
'requests@muckrock.com'

Lisa Hull
Public Records Custodian
Office of Compliance
University of Wisconsin-Madison