Judge rules logs belong to you
Dec 20th, 2007 by JamieB
From the Erie Times:
Public accountability starts at the top. It’s not always a Summit Township official, an Erie County executive or even a Pennsylvania governor who forgets who they’re working for and the fact that public documents belong to you. Even President Bush and his administration must be constantly reminded that their work remains the people’s work.
The latest reminder for the secret-loving Bush administration came Monday. Federal Judge Royce C. Lamberth ruled that White House visitor logs were public records and ordered the administration to stop withholding them for review by the outside organizations and the public.
These logs represent the front line in open records. The White House doesn’t belong to presidents. President Bush doesn’t hold a mortgage to the historic mansion at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. The president doesn’t even rent it.
The White House belongs to the American people, who might very well have a keen interest in knowing which visitors have signed their names on the visitor logs.
No administration before the current one has maintained that these logs weren’t available for public scrutiny. . . .
All this might strike you as nitpicking. Who cares about White House visitor logs?
The answer is that you should. It’s your house. These are your logs.
And open records start from the top down.