We may still be a nation of laws, not men, but the men make up new
laws to cover their crimes, so what difference does it make?
Say it now: WE ARE A NATION OF PSY OPS
(nothing more, nothing less)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HARTFORD -- A bill brokered by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is aimed at
balancing public-document requirements of the Freedom of Information
Act with the desire to keep private grisly photos from the Sandy Hook
Elementary School massacre.
http://www.greenwichtime.com/local/article/Proposal-would-block-Sandy-Hook-photos-4540527.php
But civil libertarians oppose the legislation, which was approaching a
vote on Wednesday night.
The bill, a draft of which was released by the governor's office late
Wednesday afternoon, is crafted to suppress the crime-scene photos and
911 recordings of the Dec. 14 shootings in Newtown.
The bill is limited to the Newtown incident and would also allow Town
Clerk Debbie Aurelia to continue to withhold the death certificates
for the 20 first-graders and seven adults, including shooter Adam
Lanza, killed at the school. People would be allowed to obtain the
death certificates, which include names, next-of-kin, cause of death
and location of remains, through the state Department of Public
Health.
The chances of the bill, offered as an amendment to existing
legislation in the House of Representatives, reaching the floor for
debate Wednesday night were uncertain.
Speaker of the House J. Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, said the proposal
was an attempt to help the families of the Newtown victims still
coping with their grief.
"It's within that context that we began the discussion about what to
do about this information," Sharkey told reporters outside the House
chamber. "It started with the town clerk's refusal to issue the death
certificates, but then the conversation about what to do expanded into
the question of the other, particularly the sensitive photos and other
materials that came from the crime scene."
Chief State's Attorney Kevin T. Kane said that while mainstream news
media traditionally avoid the use of graphic photos, bloggers and so-
called "truthers" -- who claim the Newtown murders are a hoax by
officials with an anti-gun agenda -- have changed the Freedom of
Information landscape.
The bill is being negotiated by Malloy's legal staff, Kane's office
and Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield.
"I represent the people of Newtown in the state Senate, and that
includes the parents and family members of those who were murdered at
Sandy Hook Elementary School," McKinney said.
"No one has been a stronger advocate of Connecticut's Freedom of
Information Act than I have, but on behalf of the Sandy Hook families,
and because this was an unprecedented tragedy, I support a one-time
exception, so that graphic evidence and the crime-scene photographs of
the murdered children and loved ones of my constituents are not
exploited," he said.
But Sandra Staub, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union
of Connecticut, said the organization opposes any attempt to withhold
public information.
"All government records should be available to the public by default,"
she said. "If there's a compelling public policy reason to exempt some
records, the exemption should be narrowly tailored and justified with
a full hearing conducted with an open opportunity for public comment.
"In the case of death certificates," Staub said, "there is a clear and
compelling public interest in disclosure. We recently studied the
death certificates of 11 people who died after being shocked by police
Tasers in Connecticut, and we found that eight of them were members of
a racial minority. We also found a wide disparity in the stated causes
of death. This is important information with implications for public
health, racial justice and public policy. Hiding it would harm the
public interest."
Two related bills are still awaiting action on the House calendar that
would allow Newtown to withhold release of the death certificates for
up to 10 years. Those would be superseded by the new bill, and were
likely going to die with the legislative adjournment date June 5.
Rep. Bob Godfrey, D-Danbury, said he would work to make sure the two
bills die.
"I don't like the Newtown bills," Godfrey said during an interview in
the Capitol.
The veteran lawmaker, a member of the powerful House screening
committee and the Judiciary Committee, said he's also concerned about
any legislation that would hide investigative information from public
view at a time when a lot of data is available on the Internet.
Read more:
http://www.greenwichtime.com/local/article/Proposal-would-block-Sandy-Hook-photos-4540527.php#ixzz2UA0Y0MYk