|
editorial is discussed the proposal which at
that time had come before our Committee
and we had had open hearings on the right
of the people to know, and the Post went
on to say that our proposal would allow the
legislature to create exceptions to the gen-
eral policy that the meetings and records of
all governmental bodies will be open to the
public. Those exceptions would protect such
matters as individual tax returns, welfare
rolls, and all of those dealing with person-
nel which should be closed to the public, and
any other matter which in the general pub-
lic interest should have privacy.
But there is an inherent right of all citi-
zens to know what their government is do-
ing, and sometimes governmental officials
in the conduct of their offices act as though
it is their own private business when it is
the people's business.
We think that this is a very healthy
check and control on an arbitrary and capri-
cious action which may ensue from govern-
mental conduct of the people's business.
And therefore we respectfully request this
Constitutional Convention to vote for this
recommendation.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Willoner.
DELEGATE WILLONER: I yield three
minutes to Delegate Sherbow.
DELEGATE SHERBOW: Mr. Chairman
and ladies and gentlemen, I rise to support
this amendment.
In all of the deliberations we keep in
mind the fact that full power stems from
the people. We give government tremendous
power, and government acts, and then there
are individuals who come in contact and in
conflict with the government, and we sur-
round them very properly with every con-
ceivable kind of proper safeguard.
This is right. But then there is in govern-
ment what is almost sometimes incon-
ceivably hard to penetrate, and that is called
by some "faceless bureaucracy." How does
an individual, whether he be a small man
or a big man, find out what is really going
on in government? He cannot do it by him-
self. And what distinguishes this country
from most of the others of the world is the
fact that in this country we have one of the
most vigilant sources of effort to find out
and to know on behalf of those people, and
that is the press.
The newspapers, radio, television, all news
media, are there on the alert. Sometimes we
may think they go too far. If they do, they
are held accountable, but they are the ones
|
who find out and publish for us to know
that which is our own business.
We even go so far in Maryland — and we
are different from other states — so as to
protect them in their sources of information.
This is good, but now all that we are asked
to do is to say that where government is
concerned, we the people have the right to
know, and the legislature has the corres-
ponding obligation to protect that which
needs protection, which Delegate Willoner
has so carefully explained, so that we know
that those things which should allow the
individual to be protected against public
disclosure will be restricted from public
disclosure.
This amendment presents to us one op-
portunity to put into the constitution the
requirement that we the people have the
right to know under proper safeg-uards.
I hope you will vote for this amendment.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Willoner.
You have left just about four minutes.
DELEGATE WILLONER: Mr. Chairman,
Delegate Gallagher, Delegate Beachley and
Delegate Boileau, who are all to speak to
it; we will yield the balance of our time,
and I assume we are prepared to vote on
the matter.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Kiefer.
DELEGATE KIEFER: Mr. Chairman
and ladies and gentlemen of the Committee,
I rise to oppose this amendment, and re-
quest that you vote it down. It looks as
though I am again speaking against mother-
hood and in favor of sin. Please believe me,
I am not. I am all in favor of motherhood,
but I must suggest to you that before
motherhood there should be some decent
interval when you have the benefit of clergy,
otherwise you produce something that may
not be what you had hoped for. I am afraid
we may have it here.
We all got into this program in October
with a great deal of enthusiasm. Delegate
Hostetter brought from Washington a group
of experts who were prepared to tell us
how this thing was such a wonderful plan.
In the first place, we produced Congress-
man Rumsfeld of Illinois, and the first
thing he said was this: "I have been ad-
vised by the Legislative Reference Service
of the Library of Congress that there are
no state constitutional provisions in this
area in any of the fifty states." So you will
be making new law if you put this in.
Delegate Maurer has suggested that New
York did a fine, beautiful thing. You know
|
