Friday, August 18, 2006
BALANCING PRIVACY RIGHTS WITH FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
This article and this article were both recently published in the Charleston City Paper. Certainly, one may advance the argument that, as an elected public official, Mr. Scarborough should expect close public scrutiny of his personal life. However, we question the propriety of the public having unbridled access to Family Court Records related to children and spouses who did not voluntarily offer themselves for elective office. We respect the idea of a free Press, but we also fear the potential for real harm when everyone gets to troll through "public information" that is public information only by virtue of the fact that Court Rules make it so. For example, what is to keep an unscrupulous person from stealing either Social Security Numbers or financial information? What is to keep a pedophile from acquiring information about a potential target from these so-called "public records"?
It may be that the allegations raised against Mr. Scarborough ultimately prove to be unfounded. But whether that proves to be the case, there should be more protections afforded to the privacy rights of innocents involved in Family Court proceedings.
We would like to know your thoughts on these subjects. Please post them to http://parentsrights.blogspot.com/. Feel free to post anonymously and to disagree with our position. But, please be civil in your posts.
This article and this article were both recently published in the Charleston City Paper. Certainly, one may advance the argument that, as an elected public official, Mr. Scarborough should expect close public scrutiny of his personal life. However, we question the propriety of the public having unbridled access to Family Court Records related to children and spouses who did not voluntarily offer themselves for elective office. We respect the idea of a free Press, but we also fear the potential for real harm when everyone gets to troll through "public information" that is public information only by virtue of the fact that Court Rules make it so. For example, what is to keep an unscrupulous person from stealing either Social Security Numbers or financial information? What is to keep a pedophile from acquiring information about a potential target from these so-called "public records"?
It may be that the allegations raised against Mr. Scarborough ultimately prove to be unfounded. But whether that proves to be the case, there should be more protections afforded to the privacy rights of innocents involved in Family Court proceedings.
We would like to know your thoughts on these subjects. Please post them to http://parentsrights.blogspot.com/. Feel free to post anonymously and to disagree with our position. But, please be civil in your posts.
