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Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Ind. Decisions - Still more on: High school student prevails in suit against Kokomo mayor in public access issue

Updating yesterday's ILB entry, which pointed out that there is a bill pending in the General Assembly which could wipe out access to email lists such as the one the mayor of Kokomo refused to disclose, the Indianapolis Star today editorializes, in a piece headlined "Don't delete e-mail from records law":

Ryan Nees' court victory is a prime example of why Indiana's open records law is essential. It protects ordinary people, even 16-year-old high school students like Nees, who have questions about how their government operates.

The Kokomo teenager won his legal fight with Mayor Matt McKillip this week, securing the right to review the city's list of e-mail addresses used to distribute an electronic newsletter. Nees asked for a copy of the subscriber list in July after he became concerned that the city was using his e-mail address for political purposes.

McKillip refused the request. And so the courtroom confrontation between the mayor and the teenager began.

The state's public records counselor, Karen Davis, sided with Nees in September, as did Howard County Circuit Court Judge Lynn Murray on Monday.
Yet what the law now gives, the legislature may take away.

Senate Bill 205, which passed the Senate unanimously and is now before the House, would exempt public agencies' lists of e-mail addresses from the open records law. Lawmakers say they want to withhold the information for the public's own good. Someone, they argue, could misuse the lists of e-mail addresses.

But it was precisely that concern -- that government might be misusing the addresses -- that drove Nees' quest for information.

The bill, SB 205, was passed out of 2nd house committee yesterday, without change, and so at this point is well on its way to becoming law.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 22, 2006 08:30 AM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions | Indiana Government | Indiana Law