Three States Weigh Keeping 911 Calls from Public

Alabama, Ohio and Wisconsin lawmakers have proposed barring the release of 911 calls, citing privacy concerns and a potential chilling effect on people's willingness to call 911 for fear of the call being broadcast later.

Open government advocates disagree, arguing that the calls should be public as they can aid public safety and news organizations should be able to air the calls on a case-by-case basis.

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Bill to Make Public Employees' Birth Dates Private Passes Oklahoma Senate

The Oklahoma Senate passed a bill that would keep the birth dates of public employees confidential. Proponents say the measure would protect an employee's privacy, but open records advocates point out that birth dates are often the only way to identify an individual correctly from a database. For example, The Oklahoman compared state sex offender registry with the state's January payroll data and found that 778 state employees share first and last names with registered sex offenders. The overlap includes child care workers, law enforcement investigators, and a state Supreme Court justice.

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North Carolina County Seeks to Remove Public Officials from Online Property Database

Mecklenburg County wants the public to use an online survey to weigh in on a debate over access to public officials' tax information online.

Arguing that it is too easy for violent criminals to find out where public officials live, some North Carolina county and federal officials sent a letter to county commissioners asking them to allow law enforcement employees to remove their names from the county's online database.

But officials say the property search tool would have to be removed in its entirety, instead of selectively removing a few names. Property would have to be searched online using only addresses or parcel numbers, but not owner names if the search tool were removed.

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Proposed Law Would Keep 911 Call Recordings from Wisconsin Public

Wisconsin lawmakers are considering a bill that would no longer treat 911 call recordings as a public record. The bill would allow a transcript of the call to be released, however. Lawmakers in favor of the bill say the move would protect the privacy of callers; however, opponents maintain call recordings reveal important information concerning public safety.

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Idaho House Committee Considers Hunter Identity Protection Bill

Idaho's House Resources and Conservation Committee is considering a bill to protect the identity of wolf hunters who kill a wolf in the state.

IdahoReporter.com says the issue arose after wolves were de-listed under the Endangered Species Act. During a wolf hunt, anyone who killed a wolf was required to report it to the state's Department of Fish and Game in order to keep an accurate quota measurement. The kill reports were obtained by public records requests, and the names of the hunters were posted on the Internet.

For more on why critics say the privacy bill is a violation of freedom of speech and information, click here.

Disclosure of Concealed-Handgun Permits Weighed by Oregon Court of Appeals

Attorneys have argued the case pending before the Oregon Court of Appeals to decide whether Oregon's sheriffs must disclose the holder of concealed-handgun permits under the state's public records law. The lower court ruled in favor of the newspaper and openness of public records. There is no deadline for the court to render its decision.

The case stems from the Mail Tribune's request to obtain the list of people with concealed-handgun permits in 2007. The Jackson County sheriff refused to make the records public, arguing that privacy concerns weighed against disclosure. An attorney for the sheriff said he was asserting a right of privacy for the permit holders, asserting it may be "stigmatizing" for permit holders to have that information made public.

The Mail Tribune's attorney disagrees and argues that the concealed-handgun permit form at the time contained an acknowledgement that the information was subject to state public records law.

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Illini Fighting Release of Admissions Clout List

The Chicago Tribune's "Clout Goes to College" investigation into a scandal at the University of Illinois involving admissions of "subpar but politically connected applicants" over more qualified applicants. The newspaper is challenging the university's refusal to release hundreds of names of applicants and any law enforcement subpoenas received by the school as well as the results of a July poll of alumni and other respondents.  

So far the fallout from the scandal includes U. of I. President B. Joseph White, who announced his resignation last month, and the replacement of six university trustees.  

The legal battle playing out in a Sangamon County court pits student privacy against public disclosure. 

Get more details here. 

Oklahoma City Refuses to Release Employee Birth Dates, Citing Identity Theft Concerns

In what one open government expert calls "absurd" and a misinterpretation of a law designed to prevent the state Public Safety Department from releasing their driver's license records, Oklahoma City officials denied the request of The Oklahoman for a city employee's date of birth. In denying the request, the city cited two exceptions to the Oklahoma Open Records Act, which prevent the disclosure of "personal information within driver records" and records that "constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy."

Open records advocates criticize the city's refusal, saying there is no statistical or anecdotal evidence showing public records are a source for identity thieves. Experts also note that the information sought is not private because it can be located in other public records.

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Judge halts release of road builder's records

A Franklin County Circuit judge in Kentucky halted the release of statements that Leonard Lawson, a prominent road builder, made to investigators in a 1983 antitrust case, the AP reported. Lawson is now facing unrelated federal charges of conspiring to steer $130 million in state road contracts to his companies. The Courier-Journal of Louisville, the Lexington Herald-Leader and The AP asked for the 1983 statements, but Lawson asked for the records to be kept from the public so that they wouldn't hurt his chances of getting a fair trial.

A judge issued a temporary injunction Wednesday to halt the release of statements a prominent Kentucky road builder made to investigators years ago.

Franklin County Circuit Judge Thomas D. Wingate cited the privacy interests of the road builder, Leonard Lawson of Lexington, in his ruling. Wingate said if the statements were made public, Lawson could face irreparable harm.

Not releasing them would preserve the status quo, Wingate said in a 16-page ruling.

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Concealed-weapon permit data: privacy vs. public interest

The News Media and the Law provided a comprehensive report on the increasing frequency of bills to close concealed-weapon permit data. Ginger Stanley of the Virginia Press Association said most legislative proposals to seal away this data can be traced back to a newspaper's use and/or publication of it. Sheriffs have had difficulty finding instances in which crimes were committed due to public access to permit data. However, there have been a slew of instances in which the data was used to inform the public when permitting failed, thereby risking the community.

It’s tough to call it a trend, exactly, when lawmakers in various states have long set their sights on sealing concealed-weapon permit data. But their efforts seem to be paying off more than ever: Since the beginning of 2008, at least seven states have considered legislation yanking permit-holder information from public files. Only one such battle looks to have yielded a complete win — for now — for open governance.

Newspapers from Oregon to Virginia, meanwhile, have inserted themselves or been thrust into the center of fiercely polarized debates over privacy, personal safety and the constitution. It was the Medford Mail Tribune’s 2007 request for the Jackson County, Ore., sheriff’s roster of local permit-holders that touched off a statewide rift between law enforcement and transparency advocates. It culminated in a legislative measure generally sealing the permits.

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ProPublica requests list of businesses trying to hide flight plans

Who other than General Motors is trying to prevent the public from tracking its corporate jets? ProPublica filed an FOIA request for a list of the companies that had requested the FAA to remove their planes' tail numbers from records. The Block Aircraft Registration Request Program allows companies to request for their flight plans to be kept private. Flight plans collected by the FAA on all planes that use public airspaces are typically public. The FAA concluded that ProPublica's requested information was public, but the National Business Aviation Association filed a motion for a temporary restraining order. Now, the FAA will withhold the list until a judge hears arguments from both sides.

Remember last fall when the CEOs of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler flew on corporate jets [2] to Washington, D.C., to plead for a taxpayer bailout? The resulting bad publicity prompted GM to try to prevent the public [3] from tracking its planes in databases compiled by the Federal Aviation Administration.

That got ProPublica interested in how many other companies had asked the FAA to excise their planes' tail numbers from records tracking private flights. So in December, ProPublica filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act for a complete listing.

Earlier this month, the FAA concluded that the information was public and planned to release the list on Tuesday. But on Monday, an organization representing corporate jet users went to court to block the release of the records.

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Appeals court rules in favor of disclosing travel records

The Third Court of Appeals in Austin ruled in favor of Hearst Newspapers and Cox Newspapers, which sued to get the travel records of Gov. Rick Perry's security detail, the AP reported. The Texas Department of Public Safety can now appeal to the Texas Supreme Court.

An appeals court has rejected attempts to keep the travel records of Gov. Rick Perry's security detail secret.

The Third Court of Appeals in Austin ruled Friday the Texas Department of Public Safety has failed to show that releasing the records would be an invasion of privacy and create an imminent threat of physical danger.

Hearst Newspapers and Cox Newspapers sued to get the records. DPS can appeal Friday's ruling to the Texas Supreme Court.

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New twist in Palin hacker case

Defense lawyer Wade Davies has asked a federal judge to dismiss the four federal charges pinned on David Kernell , the Tennessee college student who allegedly hacked into Gov. Sarah Palin's Yahoo e-mail account, Wired reported. Davis argues that in Tennessee, an act must expose something inherently private and place the victim in a false light for it to be considered an invasion of privacy. This wasn't the case, he says, because "an Alaska court has issued an order requiring Ms. Palin to preserve the correspondence in her private e-mail accounts on the grounds that the e-mails are public records."

A surprise legal maneuver by the defense in the Sarah Palin hacking case could undermine key charges carrying the stiffest potential penalties.

A lawyer for the Tennessee college student charged with hacking into the Alaska governor’s Yahoo e-mail account last year says his client couldn’t have violated Palin’s privacy because a judge had already declared her e-mails a matter of public record.

“He’s not suggesting that e-mail can’t be private,” says Mark Rasch, a former Justice Department cybercrime prosecutor. “He’s saying this particular e-mail was not private or personal because of who she is and because it wasn’t intimate communication.”

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Investigation into sheriff's public appearance will remain private

Information regarding a federal investigation into Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott's appearance at a Sarah Palin rally will not be released to the public, the Naples Daily News reported. The Office of Special Counsel, which announced the inquiry seven months ago, cites the privacy exemption as to why it won't even confirm the existence of the investigation or report on its progress. The appearance gained national attention for Scott's use of Obama's middle name. The investigation was to determine if Scott violated the federal Hatch Act, "which prohibits state and local employees of agencies that accept federal funds from using their office to further partisan aims."

A federal investigation into Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott’s appearance at a campaign rally last year will not become public — due to concerns for the outspoken sheriff’s privacy.

A staff attorney for the Office of Special Counsel, an independent investigative and prosecutorial agency that announced the inquiry into Scott seven months ago, said he was not allowed to even confirm an investigation exists, much less report on its progress.

Privacy concerns will also keep the office from releasing any results of a concluded investigation, the attorney said.

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Ill. AG suggests all privacy exemptions go through her office first

Illinois public agencies wanting to cite privacy as their reason for withholding public records might have to go through the Attorney General's Office first, the Chicago Tribune reported. This proposal is included in Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan's package for pending legislation that would rewrite the state's weak FOIA. The privacy exemption allows officials to withhold anything that constitutes "a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy." The Attorney General's Office would determine if using the privacy exemption was appropriately applied and then issue a binding decision.

Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan wants to force public agencies throughout Illinois -- from town halls to school boards -- to report to her office every time they cite privacy as an excuse to withhold public records.

"It is by far the most broadly abused exemption to the state records law," said Cara Smith, Madigan's deputy chief of staff. "We think that is far less likely to happen if they know they have to report it to us every time they use it. If they have a valid reason, then they will have nothing to worry about."

But a top lobbyist for municipal government in Illinois said the idea of elevating one exemption to public-records law over all the others is "without merit."

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Conn. housing authority appeals decision on release of job candidate info

The Ridgefield Housing Authority in Connecticut is appealing the Freedom of Information Commission's ruling that it must release job candidate records, The Ridgefield Press reported. The Commission said the Housing Authority didn't justify that the release of resumes from those who interviewed for the executive director position in 2007 who invade personal privacy.

Ridgefield’s Housing Authority is appealing a Freedom of Information Commission decision ordering it to release the résumés of people it interviewed for a job in 2005.

“They all have personal information in them and we don’t feel that’s something that should be given to the public,” said Housing Authority Chairman Phil Bergquist.

The legal battle pitting open government statutes against privacy rights appears to have roots in a dispute between a resident of the Housing Authority’s apartments and the staff managing the apartment complex.

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Utah public records bill dies

From the AP:

A bill that would have made it easier to keep some records private has failed to pass the Utah Legislature.

The House and Senate didn't reach a compromise on House Bill 122, which made changes to the balancing test for the release of 8 types of records covered under the Government Records Access and Management Act that deal with police investigations and legal proceedings.

The Senate passed a version of the bill earlier and sent it back to the House. On Thursday, the last day of the session, the House offered its own version. The two chambers couldn't agree in conference committee and the bill died.

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Calif. considers limiting Internet mapping sites

Clearly, maps such as Google Earth and Microsoft's Virtual Earth aren't the only places one can find photos of schools, hospitals, churches and government buildings. But a California lawmaker is concerned that the ready availability of these images may assist terrorists and has proposed that restrictions be placed on certain images.

A California lawmaker wants to force Internet mapping services to blur detailed images of schools, hospitals, churches and all government buildings, reviving a debate over whether such images can assist terrorists.

Assemblyman Joel Anderson, a San Diego-area Republican, said he decided to introduce his bill after reading that terrorists who plotted attacks in Israel and India used popular services such as Google Earth and Microsoft 's Virtual Earth.

But even if his bill becomes law, it might be difficult to prohibit Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and other mapping companies from posting such photographs. That's because those images already are public and often are posted on the institution's own Web site.

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Utah bill to strengthen privacy protection on records gets revised

Utah citizens can argue that the public benefit in releasing a private or protected record outweighs the reasons for closing it. The new version of this bill requires those arguing for the release of "records that would jeopardize the life and safety of an individual" provide "clear and convincing evidence for disclosure." The requestor only has to prove by a "preponderance of the evidence -- or slightly more than 50 percent -- that the records should be made public" for seven other categories of private records, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

A bill that would restrict public access to some government records, cleared the Senate Government Operations Committee on Tuesday after significant changes were made.

"The measure originally sought to prevent the balancing test" weighing public access vs. privacy interests, said Jeff Hunt, an attorney representing the Utah Media Coalition. The coalition initially opposed HB122, which is sponsored by Rep. Douglas Aagard, R-Kaysville, and backed by state Attorney General Mark Shurtleff.

When a government record is classified as protected or private, someone can argue that the public benefit of disclosing the information outweighs the need for privacy.

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Homeland Security may have violated privacy of activists

FOI at Work!
Via an FOIA request, The Washington Post obtained an e-mail indicating that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security forwarded information about a Washington area anti-war group to Maryland State Police.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security tracked peaceful activists using information shared with the Maryland State Police, government documents show.

Maryland's two senators, Democrats Benjamin Cardin and Barbara Mikulski, and civil libertarians are worried that privacy rules may have been violated by revelations in documents obtained through the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, The Washington Post (NYSE:WPO) reported Tuesday.

E-mail obtained by the newspaper indicate Homeland Security was able to track the 2005 protest plans of a peaceful Washington area anti-war group based on information shared with the Maryland State Police, whose spying activities on the DC Anti-War Network, or DAWN, have drawn much criticism.

More here.