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LETTER: Public records law needs amendment
By Scott Pickering/East Bay Newspapers
Many months ago, a coalition of groups including private citizens, journalists, the American Civil Liberties Union and government watchdogs began an effort to strengthen the law controlling public records in Rhode Island. After many meetings, compromises and most recently hearings before the General Assembly, that effort has reached a critical juncture.
Senate Bill S-2963, as amended, has been approved by the full R.I. Senate, after being unanimously approved out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. House Bill H-7422, as amended, sits before the House Finance Committee. Its fate is uncertain.
We strongly urge members of the Finance Committee, as well as other state representatives and private citizens who care about keeping the vaults and files of our government open and accessible, to rally behind this bill.
The bill is a comprehensive amendment to the Access to Public Records Act on the books in Rhode Island, which has not been amended in a decade. That’s important, because as many of us know, government at all levels has been steadily crawling toward more secrecy and less accountability for years.
The bill would make a number of substantive changes. Among them, it would:
• Require that the arrest record of an adult be made public within 24 hours.
• Clarify that the narrative accounts of the arresting officers, which are critical to understanding why police seized, detained and charged someone with a criminal offense, are part of the public record.
• Ensure that a government agency cannot demand that someone requesting a record provide personal information (which is sometimes used to intimidate the person seeking a public document). In other words, if a document is public, it’s public, regardless of who’s asking.
• Require that government agencies respond to records requests within seven business days. Current law allows 10 business days to respond.
• Require all agencies, from large state departments to small town halls and police departments, to certify that their record keepers are properly trained for the role.
All of these are very positive changes for a law that affects all citizens, not just journalists. Consider the tale of a Barrington resident who recently testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee. She told senators how, as a single woman living alone, she wanted to know why police cars had swarmed to a house a few doors away one evening. She went to the police station and asked to see a report of the incident. The dispatcher demanded to know who she was and told her it was none of her business. Because she was familiar with the law, she stood her ground and told the dispatcher he was wrong. She eventually received the report, but she told senators a less informed citizen would have walked away – they probably do all the time.
Unfortunately, Attorney General Patrick Lynch is using scare tactics against this bill. Even though the R.I. Police Chiefs Association was consulted about this bill and signed off on the current version months ago, the attorney general is telling state representatives that the bill would threaten the safety of crime victims and witnesses. We believe his claims are exaggerated and sensational.
There are protections in state law, and in this bill itself, for crime victims. Police can withhold information that might invite an unwarranted invasion of privacy – such as the identity and details of a rape victim. They are not allowed to release the identities of minors. They can keep private the identity of a witness if it might jeopardize an investigation.
We encourage state representatives to see past the hyperbole and get behind this important bill.
The author is managing editor of East Bay Newspapers and president of the R.I. Press Association.
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