Re: letter to the mayor

On Thu, 22 Oct 1998, Steven Melamut <melamut[_at_]email.unc.edu> wrote:
>
> A student has asked me if mailing a letter to the mayor in the mayor's
> professional personna means that the letter becomes a public document
> and can be reproduced without her permission.
>
> Let us say the letter concerned poor garbage collection. It seems to me
> that there is no problem with the mayor copying it and sending it on to
> the official in charge of that area.

The sender of the letter may even have sent it with the intention that it is treated by the competent service. Thus such a copy is in the explicit interest of the sender.

> I do think it might be a problem if the mayor forwarded the letter to
> the local press.

It would also be a question of protection of the secret of correspondence.

> It would seem to be the same case if the letter concerned a neighbor
> dealing in drugs. The mayor might copy the letter to the police chief
> but not to the neighbor.

Yes, see above.

Moritz Roettinger
<moritz.roettinger[_at_]dg23.cec.be> Received on Fri Oct 23 1998 - 10:26:32 GMT