Trade-offs necessary in open society
Jay Evensen
We ought to repeal press freedoms because some reporters, editors and bloggers are biased, incompetent or deliberately deceitful.
And free speech? Heavens, what if someone spreads subversive ideas?
While we're at it, those search-and-seizure guarantees in the Bill of Rights need to go because some criminals have used them to walk out the door, even though they obviously were guilty.
I could go on, attacking virtually every freedom this nation holds dear. But you get the point. Freedom and openness are messy things. Sometimes, they protect the guilty. But the opposite kind of world would be one in which officials promise no guilty person will go unpunished, and they make that happen by punishing everyone, especially the innocent.
And they do it in such a way that no one will find out.
Some state lawmakers need a lesson in this tug-of-war between liberty and ignorant bliss. One bill working its way through the state Senate, SB260, would allow a government to shut off access to records involving charges and disciplinary actions against peace officers. Mind you, the arrest records of the people those officers take into custody still would be open for all to see.
I remember one scam from the mid-1980s, when I was a reporter in Las Vegas. Someone went to Clark County and gathered the records of all marriages performed each month. Las Vegas is a marriage Mecca. Many of these, of course, are performed on people from out of state.
Each of these out-of-state couples would receive a notice in the mail from this person, in an envelope that looked similar to an official government document. Inside was a letter explaining how it was recommended that the couple obtain a copy of their marriage license, which they could do by sending a modest sum of money to the enclosed address. My guess is the person behind this plan made a tidy profit.
It was deceitful, despicable and wrong. It also was one of the hazards of living in an open society.
A few years ago, states were in a hurry to shut off all motor vehicle records because of fears that stalkers could use them to obtain addresses. But that also made it virtually impossible for investigators, including journalists, to examine records and learn, for instance, which school bus drivers had horrible driving records.
Recent comments
I think a society of absolute rights would be unworkable. Still,...
uncannygunman | Feb. 17, 2008 at 11:21 a.m.
As someone entitled to carry concealed weapons, I only hope someday...
Anonymous | Feb. 17, 2008 at 11:03 a.m.
I applaud the enthusiasm expressed defending our freedoms, and agree...
John | Feb. 17, 2008 at 9:07 a.m.
