Tough issues
Oct 3rd, 2007 by JamieB
Now that we are getting near the actual debate on a new open records law – or so we are told by our representatives in Harrisburg – we need to turn from the broad but essential generalities – such as the presumption of access – to the difficult specifics about what should be shielded from that presumption.
Ultimately, this is where the battle for more openness and transparency in our state government will be won or lost.
And if the past is any guide – and it is – the reflex reaction of public officials will be simple: if in doubt, withhold it.
So let’s start looking at the tough issues. Here’s one from the York Daily Record.
Death records should be open
Suicide, contrary to the title of the old M*A*S*H theme song, is painful. . . .
. . . For the victim: Who must have suffered untold pain and despair to take such a drastic measure.
. . . For family members and friends – for obvious reasons.
It’s an uncomfortable topic, and those touched by it deserve sensitivity.
But suicide becomes a public issue when it’s committed in public – especially if it’s done in such a way as to intentionally involve other people.
But last week, when a 49-year-old woman threw herself in front of a truck on I-83 in York Township, the state police and the York County Coroner’s office refused to identify the person.
“The family is devastated enough,” said Coroner Barry Bloss. . . ..
No doubt the family is devastated. As would be the family of the driver – had he been injured or killed in the incident.
As are the families of any homicide victims. But those deaths are not kept secret. They can’t be. Such information is vital to our democratic system of checks and balances. Citizens can’t police the police – or know if they’re doing a good job – unless they have at least some access to such information. That access should extend to alleged suicide victims. Indeed, it should extend to all death records.
But coroner records in Pennsylvania are closely guarded. . . .
The decision not to immediately release the name of the I-83 suicide victim last week was disappointingly uncharacteristic of Mr. Bloss, who normally runs an exemplary open shop.
The state police in the past have also provided identities in such cases. In February, for instance, state police identified a woman who tried to kill herself by running in front of a tractor-trailer on I-83.
That’s not to say all suicides are “news.” But public records should be just that, public, and should not be withheld on the whim of public servants.
As lawmakers embark on a long-promised update of the state’s Right to Know Law this fall, they should make it clear that citizens have a right to these records.
OK, here’s what I think: when my father committed suicide in the summer of 1971 in Manhattan, The New York Times refused to run his obituary, saying that they did not publish obituaries of suicides (this was well before the days that you had to be a rock star, Nobel Prize winner or second-string major league infielder to get your obituary in the Times). Having earlier identified my missing father’s body in a lower east side morgue, the Times response was one more incident in a very bad day. Suicide families are stigmatized enough without having to be subjected to the misplaced zeal of newspaper staffers and bureaucrats. I’m sure they had the best of intentions, but their job descriptions do not include mind reading, grief therapy or self-appointed spokesperson for my family.
• That was a hard one. Here’s an easy one.
From the Lewistown Sentinel:
Authorization to execute a settlement agreement in a lawsuit seeking to recoup losses due to a former county official’s misappropriation of public funds was approved Thursday by the Mifflin County Board of Commissioners.
The board declined to disclose any details of the settlement during its public meeting Thursday morning.
The civil suit for the County of Mifflin v. McKonley and Asbury, et al., involves an effort by the county to recover damages incurred during the tenure of former Mifflin County Prothonotary Sue Ellen Saxton, according to documents filed with the Mifflin County Court of Common Pleas.
Saxton and her husband, Fred, were imprisoned in 2002 for their respective roles in embezzling close to $1 million dollars from accounts managed by the Mifflin County office of the Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts.