All 3 AG candidates say government workers' birth dates should be public; 2 support keeping autopsy records open

All three announced candidates for state attorney general say the birth dates of government employees should be a matter of public record, The Norman Transcript noted in an editorial today.

Republican candidates Ryan Leonard and Scott Pruitt also said they support keeping autopsy records open. Democratic candidate Jim Priest took a neutral stance, saying he needs to study the issue.

The candidates spoke Saturday at the Oklahoma Press Association's Summer Conference.

Priest and Leonard have signed FOI Oklahoma Inc.'s Open Government Pledge. In doing so, each promised “to support at every opportunity the public policy of the State of Oklahoma that the people are vested with the inherent right to know and be fully informed about their government so that they can efficiently and intelligently exercise their inherent political power.”

Hopefully, Priest will keep that promise in mind as he studies the issue of public access to autopsy records.

This blog noted in April that the press and public have used autopsy reports elsewhere to uncover incompetency and corruption by police, medical examiners and coroners.

A state bill that would have restricted access to portions of homicide autopsy reports was pulled in May because of stiff opposition on the House floor. Among the representatives critical of the bill were Rep. Lucky Lamons, D-Tulsa, and Rep. David Dank, R-Oklahoma City. Both legislators had signed FOI Oklahoma's Open Government Pledge during their most recent campaigns.

Leonard, Priest and Pruitt are seeking to replace Democrat Drew Edmondson, who is running for governor.

In December, Edmondson issued a formal opinion that government employees' birth dates in their personnel files are presumed open unless the public body can demonstrate that the employee’s privacy outweighs the public’s interest in disclosure.

Edmondson said public bodies must decide each case individually and may not enact policies blocking access to all employee dates of birth. (2009 OK AG 33)

Sen. Debbe Leftwich, D-Oklahoma City, had requested the opinion. Legislative attempts by Leftwich and Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, failed to close public access to the birth dates.

The issue is now before a court. In April, Oklahoma County Judge Bryan Dixon granted a temporary restraining order stopping the release of state workers' birth dates to The Oklahoman.

The judge also allowed The Oklahoman to intervene as a defendant and FOI Oklahoma, Tulsa World, KWTV, KOTV, the Oklahoma Press Association and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to file briefs in support of the public's right to the information.

Dixon also granted requests by the Oklahoma State Troopers Association and the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety to join with the Oklahoma Public Employees Association in seeking the order against the state Office of Personnel Management.

(CJ-2010-2623, Oklahoma Public Employees Association v. Oklahoma Office of Personnel Management)

The next scheduled court date is Friday.

Joey Senat, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

OSU School of Journalism

Democratic candidate for attorney general signs Open Government Pledge

The only announced Democratic candidate for attorney general has pledged “to support at every opportunity" the inherent right of Oklahomans "to know and be fully informed about their government."

Jim Priest also promised that the attorney general's office would "comply with not only the letter but also the spirit of Oklahoma's Open Meeting and Open Records laws” if he is elected.

Ryan Leonard, an announced Republican candidate for the attorney general's office, signed FOI Oklahoma Inc.'s Open Government Pledge in January.

Priest has practiced law for 30 years and is an ordained deacon in the Church of the Nazarene.

On Saturday, Priest said he would continue current Attorney General Drew Edmondson’s open meeting and records seminars across the state. (Edmondson, a Democrat, is running for governor, not re-election as attorney general.)

Priest also said he would work to strengthen Oklahoma's laws to limit Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation. So-called SLAPPs are "retaliatory lawsuits intended to silence, intimidate, or punish those who have used public forums to speak, petition, or otherwise move for government action on an issue." (West's Encyclopedia of American Law)

Oklahoma students also should receive more education on open government, Priest told FOI Oklahoma Inc.'s third-annual Sunshine Week conference.

Freedom of Information Oklahoma Inc. invites other candidates for statewide offices and those running for legislative seats to sign the pledge.

Instructions and a list of signers for the 2010 elections can be found on FOI Oklahoma’s Web site.

FOI Oklahoma began the Open Government Pledge in spring 2008 as part of the national Sunshine Week effort to spur public commitments to government transparency from candidates for president down to city council contests.

Joey Senat, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

OSU School of Journalism

Askins to participate in open government forum at Sunshine Conference

Lt. Gov. Jari Askins will join other gubernatorial candidates in an open government forum during the third-annual Sunshine Week conference.

Oklahoma Sunshine ’10: Privacy, Politicians & the Public’s Need to Know will be held March 13 at The Oklahoman, 9000 N. Broadway, Oklahoma City.

The conference's afternoon session will feature a question-and-answer session with candidates for governor and attorney general. All the announced candidates have been invited to participate.

Askins will join fellow Democratic candidate Attorney General Drew Edmondson and Republican gubernatorial candidates state Sen. Randy Brogdon and Robert Hubbard.

Jim Priest, a Democratic candidate for attorney general, also will participate.

Each candidate will be afforded three minutes to initially state his or her position on open government and any proposals regarding government transparency and the state’s open meeting and records laws.

The conference's morning sessions will focus on the issue of birth dates, public records and identity theft. Data privacy expert and former Iowa legislator Richard J.H. Varn will explain how improved identity management technology and practices, along with public education on self-protection measures, would be more effective defenses against identity theft than redacting information from public records.

Dallas Morning News attorney Paul C. Watler and computer‐assisted reporting editor Ryan McNeill will explain the newspaper’s lawsuit over government employee birth dates in Texas and the legislative debate in that state over public access to the information.

Mark Thomas of the Oklahoma Press Association will analyze current bills in the Legislature to limit or expand the public’s right to know in Oklahoma.

A luncheon panel will look back at 20 years of FOI Oklahoma Inc. Recipients of FOI Oklahoma's three annual FOI awards also will be announced.

March 10 is the deadline for early registrations.


Joey Senat, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
OSU School of Journalism

Oklahoma Sunshine ’10: Privacy, Politicians & the Public's Need to Know

Kick off Sunshine Week with FOI Oklahoma’s 2010 Sunshine Conference

• Birth dates. Public records. Identity theft. As state legislators consider exempting birth dates of government employees from the Open Records Act, an expert on data privacy will explain what should really worry us and how to better protect ourselves.


• Ask candidates for governor and attorney general where they stand on open government issues. Scheduled to attend: Gubernatorial candidates Randy Brogdon, Drew Edmondson and Robert Hubbard; and Jim Priest, candidate for attorney general.


• Learn from a Capitol-insider about state legislation aimed at the public’s right to know.


• Celebrate 20 years of FOI Oklahoma Inc.


• Recipients of FOI Oklahoma's three annual FOI awards will be announced during the conference luncheon.


• March 13, 2010 (9 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.)
• The Oklahoman, 9000 N. Broadway, Oklahoma City
  
  Registration Form


• Early registration must be received by March 10.
  
  
  
  • Non-members: $30
    (Includes lunch & one-year membership in FOI Oklahoma)
  
  
  • College/High School Students: $15
    (Includes lunch & one-year membership in FOI Oklahoma)
  
  
  • FOI Oklahoma Inc. Members: $10
  
  
  • Additional $5 for registrations received after March 10
    
    Make check or money order payable to FOI Oklahoma.
    
    Mail payment to:
    Oklahoma Sunshine '10
    Oklahoma Library Association
    300 Hardy Drive, Edmond, OK 73013
    405–525–5100 • Fax: 405–525–5103
    Kay Boies: kboies@sbcglobal.net
    
    Purchase Orders, and Visa and MasterCard payments can also be accepted. Please contact Kay Boies at the Oklahoma Library Association.

Democratic candidates for governor, attorney general to participate in Sunshine Conference

Gubernatorial candidate Drew Edmondson and Jim Priest, a candidate for attorney general, will share their views on open government at FOI Oklahoma Inc.'s third annual Sunshine Week conference.

Oklahoma Sunshine ’10: Privacy, Politicians & the Public’s Need to Know will be held March 13 at The Oklahoman, 9000 N. Broadway, Oklahoma City.

The conference's afternoon session will feature a question-and-answer session with candidates for governor and attorney general. All the announced candidates have been invited to participate.

Each candidate will be afforded three minutes to initially state his or her position on open government and any proposals regarding government transparency and the state’s open meeting and records laws.

The latest candidates to accept the invitation are Democrats: Edmondson, the state attorney general, and Priest, an Oklahoma City attorney and lay minister.

Republican gubernatorial candidates Sen. Randy Brogdon and Robert Hubbard also have agreed to participate.

The conference will celebrate FOI Oklahoma Inc.'s 20th anniversary and preview what's ahead for open government in the state.

The morning sessions will focus on the issue of individual privacy versus the public’s need to know. State legislators are considering exempting government employees' dates of birth from the state Open Records Act.

SB 1753, filed by Sen. Debbe Leftwich, D-Oklahoma City, comes on the heels of a written opinion by Edmondson that those birth dates are presumed open and may be withheld only if officials can demonstrate on a case-by-case basis that disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy that outweighs the public interest. (2009 OK AG 33)

During the conference luncheon, the recipients of FOI Oklahoma's three annual FOI awards will be announced.


Joey Senat, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
OSU School of Journalism