Public Records Act.



Hallinan also expresses disappointment that Harris, who defeated him in his bid for re-election to a third term in 2003, has chosen to keep the church sex abuse materials under wraps. "My policy was and still would be that when I received any sort of materials like that they would become public records," Hallinan says. "Those are materials that should be brought out to the public."



Like Harris, San Mateo District Attorney James Fox refused to release church records in his control. A letter from his top deputy offered little rationale for refusing the Weekly's records request, saying merely that his office views the records it possesses as "confidential." When asked about the matter, Fox cited his office's arrangement with the archdiocese: "We had an agreement withcite this privacy provision as the basis of their legal challenge to SF Weekly's public records request.



The Weekly's position in the case centers on the argument that no private agreement can invalidate duties the California Public Records Act imposes on public officials, including district attorneys.





In briefs filed in connection with the court challenge, the archdiocese's legal team, headed by former U.S. Attorney and current Dean of San Francisco Law School Joseph Russoniello, asserts that the protocol entered with Kamena was developed after a meeting with the San Francisco DA's Office. The protocol, the briefs contend, became the "template" for a model agreement on the handling of church abuse documents later adopted by the California District Attorneys Association.



A letter that Jack Hammel, the archdiocese's legal counsel, sent to then-Marin