Government protection undermining rights
July 25, 2008
Cascade Times Editorial Board
Headlines blaring concerns from civil liberties protectors began in late 2001 when the United States encountered terrorism on her own shores. This battle over privacy and protection at the federal level is chronicled by good reporting.
However, the diminishing rights of those already punished by individual states are being ignored by local citizens and reporters. As more rights are taken away, it raises the question: what kind of a government do citizens want to support?
The Washington Supreme Court recently determined prisons can keep government records away from inmates if authorities believe the information might be a security risk.
In a 5-4 ruling, the court ruled a prison's ability to intercept inmate mail does not conflict with prisoners' rights to obtain government information under the Public Records Act.
In a state that already takes away the right to vote from convicted felons, keeping government records away from people already being punished sounds like a cruel joke. We are becoming a society that is dominated by such thin margins of behavior that pretending that this is the "land of the free" should be amended with "the home of those that fit our morality profiles."
The ruling might impact a coming high-profile lawsuit over a prisoner's access to records. In that case, Attorney General Rob McKenna recently argued that felons have fewer rights to access government documents.
We hope McKenna loses the case.
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