Roberts was first elected to represent the 51st legislative district in 1992.[4]The Herald-Standard newspaper sued in 2000 to gain access to Roberts's cellular and long-distance phone records, citing the fact that the calls were paid for with state money.[5] The suit was dismissed, but in 2003 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania to reconsider whether a Herald-Standard reporter's civil rights were violated when Roberts showed the sought-after phone records to another reporter, but not to the original reporter.[5] The full case was dismissed in 2006.[5]
He retired prior to the 2006 election. Activists had targeted him because of his support for the controversial 2005 legislative pay raise[6] Roberts accepted the optional "unvouchered expense account" money, which were used by the legislature to "skirt a [constitutional] prohibition on midterm raises."[7]
^ abc"Lawrence Roberts (Democrat)". Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Archived from the original on 2004-06-03. Retrieved 2009-01-22.
^Kroeger, Judy (2006-02-20). "'Vote 'em all out'". Daily Courier. The Tribune-Review Publishing Co. Archived from the original on 2012-09-13. Retrieved 2009-01-22.
