From today's decision of the Florida Court of Appeal in Doe v. DeSantis, in an opinion by Judge Clayton Roberts, joined by Judges Stephanie Ray and Susan Kelsey:
In an August 2022 interview, Governor DeSantis referenced a group of "six or seven pretty big legal conservative heavyweights" who were trusted advisors for his judicial appointments to the Florida Supreme Court.
In October 2022, Appellant emailed an anonymous public records request to the Governor's Office. The request asked for:
Any and all materials, on official devices or personal devices used for official business, in whatever form, including but not limited to call logs, emails, or texts, between or among Governor Ron DeSantis, Casey DeSantis, the governor's chief of staff, his executive or personal assistants or aides, his general counsel or anyone within the general counsel's office, the director of appointments or anyone within the director of appointment's office, and the "six or seven pretty big legal conservative heavyweights" described by the governor in an interview with Hugh Hewitt on August 25, 2002 [sic].
The Governor's Office acknowledged that the request was in the queue along with a high volume of other requests. Over the next twenty days, Appellant attempted to have the Governor's Office expedite a response. On October 26, Appellant conveyed intent to file suit and suggested the Governor's Office just provide the names of the "heavyweights" to resolve the request.
The next day, Appellant, "J. Doe, anonymously and individually, a/k/a '[email protected]'" filed a petition for writ of mandamus, a complaint to enforce the Public Records Act, and an ex parte motion for alternative writ of mandamus in the circuit court.
The court agreed with the trial court that plaintiff wasn't entitled to seek mandamus anonymously in this situation:
