Vt. to continue phone inquiry
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By DANIEL BARLOW Vermont Press Bureau - Published: March 31, 2007
MONTPELIER — The state investigation into allegations that Verizon and AT&T illegally released customer phone records to the federal government will remain open, the Vermont Public Service Board said this week.
Vermont Public Service Department officials launched the inquiry more than eight months ago following news reports that telephone companies had supplied the federal government with customer information as part of a secret spying program.
State officials, including Republican Gov. James Douglas, said they want to determine if the two telephone companies violated state statute and the consumer Bill of Rights by participating in the program.
"I think we see this as a victory," said Allen Gilbert, executive director of the Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, one of the petitioners. "There are a number of states that would not let these investigations even go forward. This decision allows discovery to continue."
Much of the state's investigation into the allegations has been stalled by the federal government's lawsuit against the Public Service Department and Commissioner David O'Brien. That suit sought to stop the case all together.
Vermont is not the only state that has opened inquiries into the records release, and the federal government has sued to block investigations in the other states, too. All of those federal lawsuits have been consolidated into one large, multi-jurisdictional case in California.
The Public Service Board ruled Wednesday that Vermont can continue its inquest as part of that case.
Leslie Cadwell, an attorney with the Public Service Department, said the ruling allows the state to go forward with its investigation pending the outcome of the federal case.
Also this week, U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker released a scheduling order in the federal case, setting an April 5 deadline for dispositive motions, an April 26 deadline for the parties to file consolidated briefs and a May 27 deadline for response to the briefs.
A hearing on the consolidated case has been set for June 14.
A representative of Verizon declined comment on this week's decision and a representative of AT&T could not be reached for comment.
Contact Daniel Barlow at Daniel.Barlow@rutlandherald.com.
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