From the Greensboro News and Record (3/15/11): The N.C. Constitution spells out many rights and obligations but leaves these out:
- The right of the people to inspect or copy any public record.
- The obligation of every public body to conduct its business in the open.
The state’s public records and open meetings laws cover these requirements, but that’s not enough. The legislature creates laws, and it can do away with laws. Some principles deserve higher standing than a law can provide.
The people’s right to see public records and to attend meetings of public bodies should be engraved in the state constitution, the “highest ground possible,” in the words of John Bussian, First Amendment counsel for the N.C. Press Association.
Republican legislators in the House and Senate, including Rep. John Blust of Greensboro, have put forward a proposed constitutional amendment to guarantee these rights. Unfortunately, they’ve met resistance from government interests, including the N.C. League of Municipalities and the N.C. School Boards Association, and some of their Democratic colleagues.