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Friday, February 10, 2006

Ind. Gov't. - More on the Indiana General Assembly's video record

Charles Wilson of the AP story has a story today, published in the Lafayette Journal & Courier, headlined "Indiana one of growing number of states Webcasting Legislature." Some quotes:

House Speaker Brian Bosma said his long-term goal is an "I-SPAN" channel similar to C-SPAN, which would televise Statehouse proceedings.

"I believe it's important to open the doors of the Statehouse to the average Hoosier. ... I think there's an important accountability function there as well," said Bosma, R-Indianapolis.

Such accountability can have unforeseen consequences. Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana used the House's online video archives to review daily prayers before filing a federal lawsuit accusing the state of unconstitutionally endorsing a particular religion.

The Legislature isn't required to offer video, but now that it does, any stored video remains public record, said April Schultheis of the Indiana Public Access Counselor's Office.

The Legislature archives video only from the current session on its Web site. [NOTE: Only the House archives its video for any period of time, the Senate video is only available as the Senate is meeting each day.] Some video from last session is being stored off-line because of the prayer lawsuit, said House Republican caucus spokesman Tony Samuel, but otherwise, lawmakers currently have no plans to maintain video archives from past sessions.

Lawmakers have had "mixed opinions about opening the process in this way," Bosma said, in part because lawmakers' intent in passing a particular bill can play a large part in later litigation.

"The intent of one of 150 members, however, may not accurately reflect the intent of the Legislature in its entirety," Bosma said. "So, we have to sort through how these records are to be used in the future."

The video might be public record, according to Schultheis, but that does not make it the official record. She compared it with court proceedings, where a digital recording is used to make a transcription that becomes the official record.

The General Assembly has no official record that includes debate, Bosma said.

Vaughn agrees the video is not official but that "there needs to be an official record, like the Congressional Record."

The ILB this morning requested a copy of the Public Access Counselor's unofficial opinion in this matter, but learned that it had been communicated via a phone call.

The ILB agrees that a "public record" may or may not be used as evidence, and may or may not be considered an "official record" of a proceeding; however, that does not lead to the conclusion that a public record, such as the videos of the General Assembly session days, may be disposed of at will.

For more, see this ILB entry from Feb. 8th.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 10, 2006 12:18 PM
Posted to Indiana Government | Indiana Law