[Vision2020] Court Backs Closed Meetings

Tue Mar 21 08:31:26 PST 2006

For once I have to agree with Mr. Hansen.
The 3-2 decision by the Idaho Supreme Court regarding closed committee
meetings in the state legislature will allow closed door shenanigans to
begin in earnest.
The Idaho Press Club, of which I am a member, has battled for the last three
years to try to keep this from happening.
A sad day, indeed.

-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com
[mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]On Behalf Of Tom Hansen
Sent: Tuesday, March 21, 2006 6:16 AM
To: Moscow Vision 2020
Subject: [Vision2020] Court Backs Closed Meetings

>From today's (March 21, 2006) Spokesman Review -

I don't care what excuse the Idaho courts apply,

Closed-door legislature is NOT democracy.

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Court backs closed meetings
Ruling rejects arguments from Idaho media

Erica Curless
Staff writer
March 21, 2006

The Idaho Constitution allows the Legislature to close committee meetings to
the public, the Idaho Supreme Court ruled Monday, rejecting arguments by the
media that lawmakers should conduct business in the open.

The 3-2 decision is a blow to the Idaho Press Club, which sued the
Legislature for closing seven committee meetings in 2003 and 2004. The press
club, which was joined by the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho, Idaho
Conservation League and Idaho League of Women Voters, argued that the
Legislature violated the state constitution and that founders intended the
meetings to remain open because that's where the majority of legislative
work is done. Committees also are the only place where the public can affect
legislation by testifying and giving instruction to elected officials.

The high court upheld a Fourth District Court ruling that legislative
committees - such as the House and Senate resources, tax and local
government committees - don't do the business of the Legislature, so the
constitution does not require them to keep their meetings open to the
public. The decision determines that "business" is conducted only when there
is a majority of the House or Senate present.

The news comes as the 2006 legislative session is approaching its end, but
Majority Leader Sen. Bart Davis said there perhaps is time to clarify when
it's appropriate for committees to close meetings.

Currently both the House and Senate can close committee meetings for any
reason.

Davis believes, as he said most lawmakers do, that there is rarely a need to
close a committee meeting to the public but that the Legislature should have
the ability to do so in some specific instances such as when discussing
terrorism or state security.

It's those parameters that Davis needs to work out with the Democrats and
the public, including the press club, which represents more than 200 radio,
television and newspaper journalists.

If it's not done by the end of the session, which might adjourn next week,
Davis fears it will become a controversial campaign issue because every
legislator is up for re-election. Yet if the rules aren't amended this
session, Davis said lawmakers will take up the issue when the 2007
Legislature convenes in January.

Senate Minority Leader Clint Stennett of Ketchum is disappointed with the
decision and said there are fundamental differences between the Democrats
and the Republicans and he doesn't see where amending the House and Senate
rules will make much difference.

"They'll show it to us and ask us what we think," Stennett said about
proposed rule changes. "But you're either for open meetings or you're not."

Press Club President Betsy Z. Russell, a Spokesman-Review reporter, said
even though the club lost its lawsuit, it still put focus on the need to
conduct legislative business in the open.

She pointed out that the dissenting opinion, by Justices Jim Jones and Roger
Burdick, states that the constitution always requires openness. She added
lawmakers haven't closed a single committee meeting since the lawsuit was
filed.

"If this case prompts the Legislature to look at how it operates and become
open to the citizens, then it was well worth it," she said.

The majority opinion, written by Justice Daniel Eismann, acknowledges the
policy arguments made by the press club and the three other groups to why
legislative committee meetings should always be open. Eismann said the court
can't use policy arguments to give the constitution meaning but that the
Legislature can use these reasons when deciding whether to permit its
committee meetings to be closed.

That policy may also support a constitutional amendment to specifically
define when and if legislators should close committee meetings, he wrote.

It takes a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate followed by a vote
of the people to pass a constitutional amendment. Russell said it's unlikely
the Legislature would vote to put restrictions on itself. Instead the press
club is ready to start working with leadership on a more restrictive rule
for when the public can be barred from committee meetings.

Former Republican Rep. Gary Ingram wrote the Open Meeting Law and fears that
with this decision lawmakers may try to repeal the sections of the law.

"It seems to me the Legislature that we currently have is too willing to
look for ways to get around open meetings law rather than be guardians about
it," said Ingram, who lives in Coeur d'Alene.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

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And why shouldn't the rich pay taxes?

"The people that write laws are greedy.  They need money to buy votes.  What
better way to get it than to extract it, by force of law, from the
relatively few who can afford the nicer things in life.  If you can buy
something nice then you can pay more taxes so that politicians can give
something to the 'poor' and take a cut for themselves."

- Varnel W. (March 20, 2006)

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