Re: " ...the legislature changed the law to prohibit such publication in the
future... "
(I hope I portray this accurately without oversimplifying it a bit)
As another example, in Tennessee we have had our equivalent of Sunshine Laws
created to make sure the actions of government officials saw the light of
day. In response to the often seen backroom deal making shenanigans of some
self-serving politicians the laws were tightened in an attempt to make it
illegal to conduct many meetings of public interest without sufficient
public disclosure. But what is sufficient disclosure? A newspaper editor or
two took it upon themselves to be alleged champions of open records laws and
definitely did some good regarding assuring information reached the public
about these matters. In general.
However, it also became apparent that the editors were pushing "openness" in
an attempt to almost look over the shoulders of legislators just trying to
meet to get their work done. The result was the appearance of the newspapers
trying to micro-manage the outcome of some meetings by publishing blow by
blow accountings of negotiations in progress. How would you like to
negotiate something sensitive while reporters are watching and then running
out of the rooms to publicly expose your actions and positions? And create
more public pressure on the outcome of the meetings. So the result was that
new laws were passed limiting the openness of some meetings. Which the media
then disapproved of and criticized.
This example shows that the openness can be refined and massaged with new
legislation to a granular level of detail. Not that it will make everyone
happy in all directions!
John
***************************
John Phillips
Information Technology Decisions
www.infotechdecisions.net
-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Dwight WALLIS
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2013 8:16 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Newtown shootings: Debate Begins Early Over Bill To Disclose
Handgun Owners' Names, Addresses - Courant.com - THE BIGGER ISSUE
Brian, you raise an important distinction. Generally speaking, public
agencies are required to make open public records available, and allow for
reproduction of those records. We are not, however, required to publish them
in any particular form. The restricted posting of those records is not
uncommon by public entities when posting to the internet, for reasons of
privacy, security, etc...
Some time ago in Oregon, DMV records were obtained by a private citizen who
then proceeded to post them on the internet. The public responded
negatively, and the legislature changed the law to prohibit such publication
in the future. Someone from Oregon more familiar with this may be able to
add to this, as I can't recall if that was an overall access exemption, or a
restriction on a specific form of publication.
It is, however, an example of how the system worked, and can work.
--
Dwight Wallis, CRM
Multnomah County Records Management & Distribution Services Manager
1620 SE 190th Avenue
Portland, OR 97233
ph: Records- (503)988-3741
ph: Distribution - (503)988-3533, x29131
cell: (503)260-2263
fax: (503)988-3754
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