Maine court weighs release of applicant’s background check

Sarah Coffey

Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2003 | 9:23 a.m.

PORTLAND, Maine -- The Supreme Judicial Court heard arguments Monday but made no immediate decision whether to release background information about an applicant for a racino license in Bangor.

Lawyers for Las Vegas investor Shawn Scott are trying to block the public release of records obtained by the Maine Harness Racing Commission.

Scott's background and business dealings are being checked by the commission before hearings start Dec. 15 on his application for a license to operate slot machines at Bangor Historic Raceway.

Scott's attorney, Stephen Langsdorf, said releasing the information would amount to a "witch hunt" and have no bearing on his client's ability to operate a racino.

Langsdorf said Scott and the commission had a written agreement to hold off on release of the documents until Scott's lawyers had the opportunity to argue to the commission about which documents should be kept confidential and which are public records.

"There's vast amounts of what anyone would consider to be personal and confidential information here," he said.

Nothing in the records would prevent Scott from obtaining a racino license in Maine, he said.

But Assistant Attorney General Jeff Pidot said the public has a right to know what the commission found out. The state Freedom of Access Act requires the release of the records, he said.

He said Scott's attorneys have made no effort to explain what irreparable damage will occur if the records are released.

"Freedom of access delayed is freedom of access denied," he said.

Pidot argued that officials in other states Scott has done business in, including Nevada, Louisiana and New York, lacked authority to stipulate that records they sent to the commission as part of its background check not be made public, as Langsdorf said they did in some cases.

The documents were scheduled for release last Wednesday, but Chief Justice Leigh Saufley ordered a delay until Monday's hearing. Saufley's ruling came hours after a lower court judge refused to block the release.

Several Maine news organizations, including the Associated Press, had filed a Freedom of Access Act request for the records.

The documents are being held by the state Agriculture Department, which oversees the Harness Racing Commission.

Scott and his Capital Seven LLC of Las Vegas, which funded a successful referendum campaign to allow slots at Maine's commercial harness race tracks, owns a share of Bangor Historic Raceway, which wants to operate the racino.