TWO major court decisions came down this week that affect the people's right to know. Notice I said "the people's right" not the right of the press. Two victories
for the publicTrue, it was the press that went to court to obtain voter registration lists and the names of police officers who have been disciplined - in the first case it was the Hilo Tribune-Herald and in the second the UH chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. In both cases, however, the real winner wasn't a newspaper or a reporter. It's the public.
SHOPO, the police union, made a big deal out of the potential harm of identifying cops found guilty of misconduct to their families. Nobody wants to wish harm on anybody, least of all the wives and children of public servants. Still, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that public should know when there are bad cops and who they are - even if their contract says no.
Similarly, Judge David Ezra was right to rule unconstitutional an absurd 1990 state law that made voter registration list available, for a fee, to political parties, candidates, PACs, government and data-processing companies, but not to members of the public.
The Legislature has been too eager to place privacy above accountability. The last election should have sent a message that the public wants a more open government. Milton Holt and Donna Ikeda were champions of government secrecy and both went down to defeat.
The courts have ruled in favor of the public.
