The Pennsylvania Senate approved a public records bill and now it advances to the House (see story). Politicians say it will make the state one of the most open in the country, which, frankly, is hogwash. The law keeps secret criminal investigations, civil investigations, crime victim information, 911 tapes and autopsy reports. That’s not open. To compare the state (or your own state) to other states check out the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Web site (http://rcfp.org/ogg/) or the Citizen Access Project state comparison site at http://www.citizenaccess.org.

The Seattle Times reports that Washington State Rep. Bill Hinkle, R-Cle Elum, is sponsoring legislation that would exempt information about police officers and their families form public disclosure, even if it is in documents that are normally public records, such as voting and property records. Hinkle and the bill’s supporters claim the bill would not stop oversight of police activity as people could request information on individual officers; however, the officer and his supervisors would be told the name and address of the person requesting the information. That will likely put a chill into anybody wanting to find out about officer conduct. A Web site promoting the bill claims that because of “overbroad” public records laws, criminals and “terrorists” (the bogeyman du jour) could get this information and use it to cripple us. The supporting evidence on the Web site for this is a pretty thin gruel; one story about thieves targeting police cars to steal guns, with no indication that these thieves are using public records to find police cars. We hope Washington’s Coalition for Open Government can stop this bad bill.

A bill is moving forward in Virginia that would make secret the state database of concealed weapons permits, but provide the data for the NRA and other gun advocacy groups for educational purposes. The measure was proposed in response to The Roanoke Times posting the data on its Web site last year. Gun advocates said the information should not be so easy to get because of the possibility of stalkers. Ummmm, it would seem like stalkers would find easier people to stalk than gun owners. If the bill passes a person could still get the information from individual courthouses. See story.

Public records are supposed to help us keep track of things, but one newspaper chain’s project found that people who want to hide their bad deeds can often do so. A seven-month investigation by the Small Newspaper Group found that teachers who run afoul with the law are able to use a variety of techniques to make sure they don’t leave a paper trail through court records. See story.

The chief of staff to the Detroit mayor resigned after the Detroit Free Press requested public text messages exposing an affair between the two. The public records, gleaned from 14,000 text messages provided by the city, contradicted testimony they provided under oath. See story.

President Bush is apparently considering moving the new FOIA ombudsman from the National Archives and Records Administration to the Justice Department, much to the consternation of Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., John Cornyn, R-Texas, and access groups. If the Justice Department, one of the most secretive agencies in U.S. government, is in charge of mediating FOIA disputes we might as well write off the ombudsman idea. Groups including SPJ are speaking out against the proposal. See story.

A proposal in Colorado would make e-mails and other records regarding draft legislation secret. The Legislature believes that if citizens find out about proposals before they are crafted then it would chill the deliberative process – that elected leaders don’t want people to know what they really think by debating proposals openly. Yet, draft bills are public in Florida and Missouri. And city councils throughout the country often are required to provide proposed ordinances before they discuss them. That’s called government transparency and accountability. Elected officials need to have the guts to discuss proposals openly instead of making backroom deals away from the public, then springing the final proposal on citizens without time to react or an understanding of what (or who) is behind the proposal (e.g., Cheney energy task force meetings). See editorial in The Denver Post.

The Arksansas Democrat-Gazette used public records to expose a secret “special-events fund” run by Mike Huckabee when he was governor to accept private donations for such things as a $40,000 portrait of himself. A great job digging through documents to let people know what’s going on. See story.

According to Jeff Hunt, Utah media attorney, the Utah Supreme Court approved a shield rule for reporters yesterday that promises to offer Utah journalists some of the strongest protection from subpoenas in the nation. The rule creates a near-absolute privilege for confidential sources. A journalist can only be compelled to divulge such a source only in cases where it would “prevent substantial injury or death.” The rule also protects documents, applying the balancing test used in federal and state courts for the past 20 years.

Thanks go to Jeff Hunt and Mike O’Brien, as well as the Utah SPJ Chapter for their tireless work to get this important rule enacted. And thanks to everyone who posted supportive comments on the court’s Web site during the comment period.

Congress may consider a resolution condemning Middle Eastern countries for imprisoning and harassing journalists. See story in the New York Sun. Now, maybe they also might consider condemning themselves for imprisoning an Associated Press photographer for nearly two years without charges (see AP story).