Judge Rules Palin Speech Documents Are Public

A California judge has ruled that documents and the contract related to a Sarah Palin fundraising appearance at a California State University campus should have been made public and that officials broke open-records laws when they refused to release the information, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Times reported today that “the university and a foundation affiliated with the campus were sued in April after failing to disclose details of Palin's contract, including her speaking fee. Officials argued that the nonprofit foundation that hosted the former Republican vice presidential candidate was not subject to the state's Public Records Act. They also argued that the contract with the Washington Speakers Bureau, which represented Palin, was confidential.”

It added, “Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Roger M. Beauchesne ordered Cal State Stanislaus officials to release the contract as well as other documents related to the use of university facilities, personnel and services surrounding the June 25 fund-raising gala.” The ruling came down Monday.

The suit was filed by Californians Aware, a government watchdog group. It eventually found that Palin, now a Fox News commentator, was paid $75,000 for the appearance.