Hoosier State Press Association - The Indiana Publisher
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/109445
Page 4 February 14, 2013 Foundation supports court briefs T he Hoosier State Press Association Foundation approved two amicus ��� or friend of the court ��� briefs, one involving public access to causes of death and the other involving freedom of speech. The Evansville Courier & Press asked for HSPA Foundation support in its appeal of a trial court decision that would close public access to county health department records that contain a cause of death. Senior Judge Carl Heldt���s ruling melds three different statutes that require the creation of a death record into two records, creating a conflict as to public access that he resolved by shutting the public out. His decision also found that the Vanderburgh County health department did not keep copies of the records sought by the newspaper and county resident Rita Ward, who checks the records for cancer deaths possibly linked to smoking. The ruling ignores the fact that the law requires the county health department to keep copies of the record. The decision runs contrary to a previous state attorney general���s opinion and a 1975 Indiana Court of Appeals decision on the same question. In both situations, county health departments that kept the record that included the cause of death were required to make it available for inspection and copying. After years of making the information available Photos Continued from Page 1 laundry list of actions farmers or businesses could take against individuals ranging from trespass to libel to breach of contract. Committee chairman State Sen. Michael Young, R-Indianapolis, raised questions about photos taken of illegal activity, which he felt shouldn���t be subject to sanction. Key pointed out that there have been many instances where undercover journalism exposed activity that wasn���t against the law, but public exposure of the situation led to changes in law. For example, Nellie Bly went into a New York insane asylum in 1887 to document treatment of women in institutions. What was happening wasn���t illegal, but her stories led to mental health reform. Photos of children working in New England mills in the early 1900s led to child labor laws. Photos illustrating discrimination in the South in the 1960s helped spark the passage of civil rights legislation. Surprisingly to Key, S.B. 373 was supported by the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council. ���This bill sets ���annoying��� as a threshold for criminal activity,��� Key said. Holdman had offered an amendment to drop a first offense from a misdemeanor to an infraction and added intent language saying the dissemination of the photos or video was prohibited if it was done to defame, harass, annoy or harm the pictured business. The bill goes to the full Senate next. Public notice It appears a House bill that would have moved bid notices and other procurement public notices to government websites will die. H.B. 1589, authored by State Rep. David Ober, R-Albion, was heard Tuesday in the House Government and Regulatory Reform Committee chaired by State Rep. Kevin Mahan, R-Hartford City. The Indiana Association of Cities and Towns and Association of Indiana Counties testified in Key Points By Steve Key to the newspaper, which published the vital statistics, the health department had a change of heart after some relatives of some of the deceased complained about the information being in the newspaper. Ironically, the 1975 court decision also involved the Vanderburgh health department and an Evansville newspaper. The second Amicus brief will ask the Indiana Supreme Court to accept a case out of Dearborn County favor of H.B. 1589 while HSPA opposed the bill. Mahan decided to hold the bill after testimony was completed. HSPA believes a more expansive public notice bill, S.B 458 authored by State Sen. Jim Banks, R-Columbia City, also will be allowed to die without a committee vote. It had been heard last week in the Senate Local Government Committee chaired by State Sen. Randy Head, R-Logansport. Public access The House this week passed two public access bills that HSPA has worked with the authors to refine. H.B. 1175, authored by State Rep. Bill Friend, R-Macy, was approved 72-27. H.B. 1102, authored by State Rep. Steve Davisson, R-Salem, was passed 98-0. Friend���s bill deals with voluminous records requests and the ability for local government agencies to charge a search fee if it takes more than two hours to fulfill a request. It also allows records requesters who seek an electronic record to ask for that record in electronic form. Davisson���s bill tweaks the litigation provision for an executive session to include administrative law proceedings and allows school boards to appoint themselves as agents to directly negotiate with unions without triggering a public meeting under the Open Door Law. State Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, has said he will allow his S.B. 139 to die. He came to appreciate that the bill allowing for closed-door discussion of sales of public property would allow decisions to be made without public input, Key said. The full House is considering a bill that includes a provision to eliminate publication of annual school financial reports, replacing them with school district website posting. H.B. 1427 is authored by State Rep. Rhonda Rhoads, R-Corydon. Under the bill, schools would be the only local government entity not required to publish its annual report even though school districts are usually the largest consumer of property taxes. where Daniel Brewington was convicted of intimidation for expressing his caustic opinions about a trial judge���s ruling in a divorce decree that went against Brewington. This case was brought to HSPA Foundation���s notice by Indiana University School of Law professor Steve Andrews and IU ��� Indianapolis journalism dean emeritus James Brown. This brief will be done pro bono by UCLA School of Law professor Eugene Volokh. He argues that the Indiana Court of Appeals decision criminalizes constitutionally protected speech that could impact the ability of journalists, public advocates, politicians and ordinary citizens to criticize the actions of judges or other public officials. Volokh���s brief will rely heavily on two U.S. Supreme Court decisions ��� one involving the actions of a civil rights organization protesting a real estate agent���s actions that it believed encouraged white flight and another case where the NAACP pressured black community members who didn���t support a boycott of whiteowned businesses, by reading their names in church. Volokh points out the U.S. Supreme Court���s position that speech doesn���t lose its protected character simply because it may embarrass others or coerce them into action. Steve Key is executive director and general counsel for HSPA. HSPA Hotline Q The following questions came from the Carroll County Comet (Delphi), Evansville Courier & Press, Lebanon Reporter and Sullivan Daily Times: Q Emergency personnel get ���toned out��� when there is a call for their services. Yesterday, the local fire department and the ambulance service were called to a house fire. I contacted the 911 dispatcher and asked what they were called out for, and the dispatcher said he had nothing for me. I know law enforcement is required to give me the location or the reason for an emergency response but want HSPA���s opinion before I speak with the 911 coordinator to discuss how we can work together about this. What can I do? A What you want is immediate information when emergency personnel or police are dispatched. I���d have to say a scanner is your best bet. The records that must be made available are created after the event, so if the dispatchers won���t answer your questions ��� and there���s nothing to require them to do so ��� you need to hear what���s going out over the radio. Otherwise, you���ll have to catch up on the story when the records are available for inspection and copying. I made a request to the Indiana Finance Authority for all correspondence referring to a business deal that has since collapsed. Even the governor said it���s dead in a statement released by his office. The Finance Authority has denied my request and pointed to three statutes as their authority. Do you think I have any room to fight with this? A Both IC 5-143-4(b)(5) and IC 5-14-3-4.7 specify that after negotiations have ended, the final offer of public financial resources communicated by the authority shall be made available for inspection and copying. As for the (b)(6) provision the Indiana Finance Authority cites, it would only protect the part of any document that was opinion or speculative nature. The final offer would be neither. So, yes, you have an avenue to challenge this blanket denial. Q Aren���t coroner���s reports public records? The Marion County Coroner���s office gave a report to the family, but they are refusing to give it to the paper. A When the coroner investigates a death there are two types of records created. There is the autopsy, which goes into detail about the examination of the body and would include toxicology reports, etc. This record falls under the investigatory records exception, and the coroner does not have to make it publicly available, although it���s not unusual for the family to receive a copy. The coroner also has to complete a coroner���s report within 14 days of the autopsy report. This report doesn���t give you the details but must include the coroner���s conclusion as to the cause of death, manner of death and mechanism of death. The record must be made available to the public for inspection and copying. Q A What���s the legal status of Facebook photos? Can the newspaper use them for a story? Facebook will recognize the copyright attached to photos, even if they are posted on Facebook. You probably are OK for news used under a fair-use argument but could be in trouble if you use the photos for advertising. Contact Steve Key, HSPA executive director and general counsel, with media law questions at skey@ hspa.com or (317) 6244427. Correction A bill that would effectively eliminate the publication of public notices in newspapers by local government units in Indiana, S.B. 458, was incorrectly numbered in the Jan. 31, 2013, print edition of The Indiana Publisher. Without publishing anything new, the Fayetteville Observer ad package created new, year-long revenue in just one week! Contact Advantage Newspaper Consultants today to learn more about creating NEW annual revenue with your existing core products. Fayetteville Observer's Platinum TV ad package exceeded revenue goal in less than a week! Ask us about our digital editions! 910-323-0349 | info@newspaperconsultants.com | www.newspaperconsultants.com