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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 3, 2005 D.A. orders release of e-mails Huddleston rules that the Medford School District must turn names and addresses over to the Mail Tribune By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune The Medford School District must release the names and e-mail addresses of people who commented on a proposed health curriculum update because they are public record, Jackson County District Attorney Mark Huddleston ordered Friday. The Mail Tribune asked Huddleston to rule on whether names and e-mail addresses ought to be released with the comments as public records, after the school district declined to provide identifying information. The district claimed that releasing such personal information would be a violation of privacy that could have a "chilling effect" on dialogue between the community and the district. The district sought comments on its secondary health curriculum proposal, posting the proposed curriculum online, so people could read it and send their thoughts electronically. The board will vote on the curriculum at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the South Medford High School cafeteria. The newspaper asked the district for the comments accompanied by the names so it could show readers what the community was saying about the proposal, which included a controversial plan to introduce information about contraception to all eighth-grade students. It also hoped to show who was involved in the process. Advertisement "Just as voters are entitled to know who is contributing money to a political candidate, so too are people within the district entitled to know who is saying what about this issue," Huddleston wrote in his order. "I believe that public interest outweighs any chilling effect such disclosure may have." While Huddleston noted that names and e-mail addresses are indeed personal, disclosing them wouldn’t be an unreasonable invasion of privacy. "While the subject matter in question may be politically and emotionally charged, I doubt that the people who submitted the comments would be unwilling to have the comments published and identified as coming from them," he wrote. He added that e-mail comments weren’t different from speaking at a board meeting and a reasonable person might expect that comments submitted to a board considering a policy matter would be used in a public forum. Indeed, he noted, even when the school district revised its Web site so people didn’t have to leave their names or e-mail addresses to make a comment, only two of 13 people commented anonymously. Forty-five people commented while names were required and nine others sent e-mail including their names to other district addresses. Under Huddleston’s order, the district must make the comments, names and e-mail addresses available to the Mail Tribune within seven days. The district still can seek an injunction in Jackson County Circuit Court to block the release. "We appreciate the district attorney’s ruling and view it as a victory for the public’s right to know what’s going on within their local government," Mail Tribune Editor Bob Hunter said Friday. Superintendent Phil Long and the school district’s attorney Tim Gerking said they would review Huddleston’s order, which was issued near the end of the work day Friday, on Monday and decide how to proceed. "Our concern in all of this was to protect the confidentiality people felt when they submitted comments and the need for the board to see the comments before they were published in the newspaper," Long said. Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail D.A. orders release of e-mails ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztech Media Hosting Sports Equipment Online Casino Student Loans Online Pharmacy tcg student loan consolidation Online Casino Reviews Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Discount Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Casino Gambling Sites Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Salvia Divinorum Advertisement s