Date: Fri 26-Jun-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

edink-FOI-town-attorneys

Full Text:

ED INK: Lawyers As Doorkeepers?

Last week, when the state's highest court moved to protect attorney-client

privileges in a case involving Rocky Hill, it may also have opened the door

for some public officials to invoke new privileges of secrecy and

unaccountability that run against the grain of our democratic system of

governance.

In a unanimous decision June 17, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that

discussions between town officials and lawyers hired for town business are, in

most cases, confidential. The ruling upset a Freedom of Information Commission

decision that legal reports prepared as Rocky Hill town officials considered

the dismissal of that town's police chief should have been released to a local

resident who had requested to see them.

Most people would defend the rights of clients, public officials included, to

speak privately with their attorneys on matters directly related to court

cases or issues where bargaining and negotiation are required. In this

context, the court's ruling involving the specific case in Rocky Hill may have

been fair, reasonable, and in the best interests of that town. We are afraid,

however, that the ruling will be liberally interpreted by municipal officials

across the state who are motivated less by the public interest and more by

their own interest in exercising power away from public view, where they are

shielded from public criticism and the consequences of actions that may not

reflect the public will.

Our concern is that any board or commission faced with a controversial matter

will simply invite a town attorney to its meeting and close the door. Elected

officials may be tempted to absolve themselves in this way from being held

accountable for what they think or say as they conduct the town's affairs.

The strength of any government can be measured by its openness. People trust

their elected leaders when they can see what they are doing. Leaders who

develop a taste for secrecy and a fondness for confidential conversation of

public matters will always appear weak, worried, and suspect. We hope this

latest ruling by the state's Supreme Court does not tempt our public officials

to turn town lawyers into doorkeepers whose primary job is no longer

dispensing legal advice, but rather keeping the public at bay.