A letter from government transparency organizations urges the Uniform Law Commission to prioritize the public’s right to know when it studies the redaction of personal information from public records.
The June 17 letter was written by Sarah Brewerton-Palmer, legislative chair of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation, and was edited and endorsed by Todd Fettig, the National Freedom of Information Coalition’s executive director. Twenty-four additional government transparency organizations also endorsed the letter, as did Thomas Susman, NFOIC’s Vice President and Open The Government’s steering committee chair.
The Uniform Law Commission has created a committee to study “Redaction of Personal Information from Public Records,” intended to protect certain public officials and others.
The letter from government transparency organizations raises three main concerns regarding the ULC’s study of redaction of personal information from public records.
- The legislation considered by the ULC is likely to result in unintended reductions in access to public records.
- There is a real cost to such redactions.
- The ULC should consider other measures that would not undermine government transparency.