County pensions are public record, court rules

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

... In the first appellate decision on an issue that is being litigated around the state, the Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento said the names, benefits and work histories of Sacramento County retirees are public information not protected by California privacy laws.

"Public pensions are not private information," Justice Elena Duarte said in the 3-0 ruling. She said the law shields certain personal information from disclosure, such as retirees' addresses and phone numbers, but not the amounts they receive from county pension systems.

... The court rejected arguments by the Sacramento County Employees Retirement System that publicizing pension levels would subject elderly retirees to harassment.

"Simply because many retirees are elderly does not mean they are too frail to weather disclosure of their individual pensions," Duarte said.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/11/BAM41JEV6L.DTL&tsp=1

Why the hell would a public employee pension be secret?

Now, we can be stalked even more. Great. Annie, get your gun....

It's public money.

The people have a right to know what is being done with their money, period.