Public’s right to know vs. privacy is important battle for everyone

June 21, 2004
Columbus Dispatch

by Lee Leonard

You could stuff in a broom closet the number of folks who gave a hoot last week when Ohio’s newspapers complained about the lack of compliance with the public-records law.

Who cares that half the time a secretary will stall or flatout refuse a request to see a school superintendent’s salary or the minutes of the last board meeting for a public agency?

Well, the public needs to start caring, and not just because a few reporters and editors are trying to assert their rights under the law. Like it or not, certain records belong to the public. People ought to be able to read them and make copies, at cost, during reasonable hours.

We are approaching a crossroad on the issue of personal privacy vs. the public’s right to know.

Ever since 9/11, the government has been intent on retaliating and protecting American soil. A cabinet-level agency was established for the latter purpose, and new federal and state rules were devised, some of which inhibit the distribution of information. Investigations are kept secret and, in some cases, rights are suspended with the justification that terrorists don’t play by our rules.

The tug-of-war over information will not cease. There will be continual tension over the public’s right to know. But the possible ramifications must be examined.

Central Ohio’s Somali community was offended and astounded last week to learn that one of its members, Nuradin Abdi, was fingered by the federal government for conspiracy in terrorism after six months in secret captivity. Abdi was indicted on a charge of conspiring to blow up a Columbus-area shopping mall.

The government understandably wanted to learn more about Abdi’s past connections before going public. Having been flogged just last week for security failures involving 9/11, the government has to try harder to stay two steps ahead of the next terrorist attack.

One can speculate that the timing for releasing the information about Abdi was it to show that the feds are on the ball, protecting Americans. Should it have been done earlier? Should the terror-alert color-level be raised?

There’s no argument whether pressure is being felt by the Somali community, which now has to deal with guilt by association. Meantime, Omar Jamal of Minneapolis, an advocate for Somalis, accused the federal government of hiding behind the Patriot Act in the treatment of Abdi.

At the other end of the spectrum, advocates of concealed handguns saw their chance to make a point. Chad Baus of Ohioans for Concealed Carry noted that many store owners have been removing their "no guns" signs as they’ve seen that carriers could come in handy if there’s a holdup. He wondered if mall owners might now welcome permit-holders because of the terrorist scare.

The concealed-weapons folks won their right to carry by appealing to the sense of constitutional freedom in America. They envision a law-abiding citizen stopping a lawless terrorist from bombing a shopping mall.

We now see the difficulties we have in distinguishing between law-abiding Somalis and a Somali suspect. The same could be said of law-abiding citizens with guns and outlaws, except that one has a piece of paper qualifying him or her to pack heat.

Gun owners reluctantly accepted the requirement to get that piece of paper in exchange for the right to carry. But they objected to a provision in the law requiring sheriffs to release the names of permit-holders upon request of a news media representative.

There’s a delicate balance here in the age of terrorism. We need to be able to distinguish between friends and enemies. We need to protect our freedoms. But we also need to be sensitive to people who may be different, treat them with respect and avoid stereotypes.

The government should provide the people with the information that is theirs, and the news media should use the information responsibly, for example, by not inflaming feelings against Somalis or publishing the names of conceal-carry permit-holders without cause.

We are at a crossroads.

Lee Leonard covers the Statehouse for The Dispatch - [email protected]