It’s been a long time coming.

In March of 2015, SN&R’s Cosmo Garvin filed a Public Records Act request for emails related to Mayor Kevin Johnson and the National Conference of Black Mayors. The City of Sacramento didn’t release them all, and a legal battle ensued. Read the most recent updates here and here.

Finally, SN&R and the mayor’s lawyers at Ballard Spahr LLP met today in court. The mayor’s lawyer requested a re-examination of several emails, resulting in a fairly exasperated Judge Christopher Krueger.

“Every document an attorney has seen doesn’t become a legal document,” Krueger said, adding that a “talismanic invocation” of attorney-client privilege doesn’t make it so.

With the exception of one redaction, Krueger ruled that most of the remaining emails will be turned over to SN&R. Ballard Spahr has until July 18, but it is still possible that they’ll file an appeal.

What does this mean for SN&R? The mayor? How the city will deal with Public Records Act requests in the future? Nick Miller will dive into all of that in next week’s SN&R.