From the Wilmington Star-News (2/6/09): The public's business is the public's business. And when individuals or organizations have to go to court to enforce the state's open government laws, the lawbreakers should pay.
But that’s rarely the case in North Carolina, which in theory has very strong public records and open meetings laws. That’s because there’s almost no penalty for public officials who break those laws. A law without consequences is barely worth the paper it’s written on.
A Gaston County senator tried to change that last year by adding teeth to a provision allowing judges to award attorney fees to citizens and news organizations that sue under the open government laws and win. Sen. David Hoyle, D-Gaston, wanted to mandate that lawbreaking public officials pay the plaintiffs’ legal fees.
The N.C. Senate passed the bill. But Speaker Joe Hackney, D-Orange, unilaterally blocked the bill in the House last summer, saying he thinks judges should retain discretion.
Meanwhile, associations representing public officials whine that it’s unfair to punish officials who didn’t mean to break the law. That’s a poor excuse. Public officials are supposed to know the law, and follow it.
The problem is that many governing bodies and public agencies find it inconvenient and annoying to let the public know what they’re doing. Many look for excuses to close meetings and withhold information.
When someone challenges this secrecy and is forced to go to court to get public officials to obey the law, the lawbreakers ought to pay the price. Cases don’t get to court until after all other reasonable options have been exhausted.
Some news media have been able to shoulder the cost of going to court, but such action may be too expensive for a small news organization or an individual. They may give up before getting what is rightfully theirs.
It looks as though the House Honorables may again consider Hoyle’s bill, and this time Hackney apparently is a bit more amenable. His spokesman, Bill Holmes, told The News & Observer of Raleigh that Hackney wants judges to be able to reject unreasonable attorney fees.
Fair enough.
But if public officials have to be dragged into court to force them to obey the law, then the party that pushed the issue ought to be compensated for the cost involved.
Star-News Staff Editorial