Preserving OA to public documents in Utah

Don't lock up court records, Utah Daily Herald, August 24, 2004. An unsigned editorial. Excerpt: "When is a public document not a public document? The answer should be 'never.' But in the view of a committee of the Utah Judicial Council, public records should not be accessible by computer, only by written request and a visit to the courthouse. The fear is that electronic mining of entire databases -- even public ones -- can lead to invasions of privacy by unscrupulous commercial interests. This notion needs to be put to rest. Any public record as defined by Utah law should be available for inspection by the easiest and most cost-effective means available. The committee's draft report suggests that individual documents that are now available to the public ought to be available by computer. But it doesn't want to open the entire database to potential electronic mining. Its fears are unfounded. There is no reason to slow the flow of information."