Chief Justice Miguel S. Demapan and Associate Justices John A. Manglona and Alexandro Cruz Castro presided in yesterday’s hearing at the Supreme Court.
Assistant Attorney General Brad Huesman represented the administration of Governor Benigno R. Fitial and former Finance secretary Eloy S. Inos.
Sablan represented herself.
Huesman presented the administration’s opening brief filed earlier, asking the high court to reverse the trial court order to release over 30 various documents to Sablan.
“If the documents are released, we are allowing our adversaries to see documents that they are not entitled to,” Huesman said.
He added disclosure of the documents would harm not only the litigation but would also harm the litigation going forward.
Huesman said the only way to protect certain government functions would be to release the documents to Sablan only after the lawsuit filed by the governor against the United States over the federalization law.
The “903 Litigation” is an ongoing lawsuit filed by the governor against the Federal Government in an effort to halt the implementation of the impending federalization of immigration in the CNMI.
“When the federal lawsuit is over, there would be nothing to protect by then,” Huesman said.
The trial court held that the government had not offered any proof that withholding the documents was clearly necessary to protect a government function.
The government said that the burden of proof for proving the documents are clearly unnecessary to protect a vital government function rests solely with Sablan, and not on the government.
Sablan said it is illogical for her to prove the burden of proof when she had not seen any of the documents which the trial court ordered to be released to her last month.
Sablan who requested the documents ‘for the public and as a taxpayer’ said she cannot see what specific function the government is trying to protect in not releasing the documents.
She said all she wanted to see were documents that are safe for release like how much had already been spent for the federal lawsuit, where the funds come from, and the agreements, among others.
“I and even the trial court did not see which government function will be harmed or compromised by the disclosure of the documents,” she said.
Sablan is asking the high court to affirm the trial court’s order to release the documents to her.
“This case has been an eye opener and a discouraging one for me to ask for public records as a public citizen,” she said.
On June 18, 2009, Superior Court associate judge David A. Wiseman ordered the administration to release certain documents to Sablan within 48 hours.
The administration filed a motion for stay pending appeal which Wiseman denied.
Huesman filed a petition for a stay of the trial court’s order which was granted by the Supreme Court on June 19.
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