Lott’s tone is pretty caustic and is unsparing in his criticism of the top leadership of the DLSE, but from reading the blog it’s clear his intent is not simply being destructive but to spotlight inefficiency, incompetence and worse. Lott backs up his contentions and invites skeptics to file Public Records Act requests if they doubt his claims.

Lott’s superiors scheduled a job performance interview for June 2006. Lott suspected the true purpose of the meeting was his blog and he retained Mark Rosen as his attorney and brought Rosen along to the interview.

DLSE supervisors got around to the subject of Lott’s blog and hauled out a stack of paper that turned out to be a print-out of his many posts. In his posts, Lott references anonymous sources, as well as private journals in which he keeps notes. In the interview, his supervisors demanded to know who his sources were, and also demanded to see his journals.

Lott refuses to give those up to his superiors at the DLSE, and ultimately filed a writ of mandate, seeking to have a judge order the DLSE to cease its efforts to get Lott’s to give up his sources and his journals.

How do I fit into all this?

Mark Rosen contacted me this spring and said he wanted to call me as an expert witness on blogging: how it works, what’s involved in the creative process of blogging, its role in public affairs and open government, etc.

Sure, I thought: why not?

So there I was last Monday afternoon: being sworn in and talking a sit in the witness stand, where I remained for the next 90 minutes or so.

My cross-examination by the DLSE attorney was the most interesting part. He tried very hard to discredit me and continually stated that he didn’t think I had any expertise on blogging. The incongruity of his questions illustrated how new blogging still is. It’s not a "profession" so to speak, which made the DLSE attorney’s question sound odd.

For example:

DLSE attorney: Have you taken any courses in blogging?

Me: They don’t have courses in blogging.

DLSE attorney: When did you graduate from college?

Me: 1986.

DLSE Attorney: What did receive a degree in?

Me: International Affairs?

DLSE: Did you take any courses in blogging?

Me: They didn’t have blogging in 1986. They didn’t have the Internet in 1986?

DLSE: So, is it correct to say your only expertise in blogging comes from the practice of blogging?

Me: Yes, much like a doctor’s medical expertise comes from practicing medicine.

DLSE Attorney: I object to the witness’ answer!

Judge Sheila Fell: Objection sustained.

Quite a feat: I managed to elicit on objection to the very first time I took the stand!

This Tuesday morning will be the final day of "live action" in the trial. After that, both sides will submit written final arguments and Judge Fell should issue a ruling within a month.

Stay tuned…