state library of doom

i was at the state library here in the lovely capital today doing some research. i want to see the records they have in the archives from the various governors who have granted executive clemency in death penalty cases. everyone was helpful until i made it to the archive desk. the effete little napoleon in charge gave me the stiff arm, citing some statutory language about how the governor's papers were under seal for 100 years, but i was more than welcome to return and look at them then.

i guess he didn't realize who he was dealing with. i looked up his little "statute," along with the VA freedom of information act--this took long enough that when i went back he was gone and i dealt with someone who was acutally nice and helpful and let me talk to the person in charge of those archives who could actually explain what the deal was. in the course of talking to him, we both realized that i was looking for the UNsealed, public records of the successful clemency petitions, not the unsuccessful ones. apparently, the unsealed ones come from a different office that does not require the standard 100 year wait. BUT--

he was reticent to just hand the goods over cause there might still be confidential information in them and he said the law is in a state of flux (for example, in about a week, my statutory wait will only be 75 years--woohoo). so now i have to wait for the damn head archivist to get back from vacation to just get a look at some crusty old documents. but according to my man there, they are the complete records--including letters the governor received from families of both defendant and victim, complete case files, recommendations of various important folks like judges and prosecutors, et.al.

so friends, always remember, never take no for an answer from grotty little library trolls.