Amended North Dakota House Bill 1156 passed 78 to 16 despite a do-not pass recommendation from committee.
The bill originally would have made 9-1-1 calls not public records unless the person making the call would sign an authorization form to make the call open to the public.
The bill was amended to allow for a printed transcript to be released to the media and removed the requirement that the person who placed the call must sign a permission slip to make the document an open record.
The four republicans who sponsored the bill persuaded 74 more of their members that a call could end up on You-Tube or God forbid, the Internet.
The key word here is could -- the sponsors couldn't site one instance in North Dakota where the media has broadcasted a call where the individual who placed the call's rights were abused.
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The Internet is the new media and immediacy and transparency are two of the main reasons it is so popular, but the public does not need to be protected from the truth by the North Dakota House of Representatives.
What next? A civil servant who decides what the public should be allowed to view or not? A ministry of the truth like in George Orwell's "1984" where individuals are subordinated to the state and the ruling party manipulates and controls humanity determining what they need to know for the good of the whole society.
Realistically, what the House has done is put another barrier between the public and the police and emergency system responders.
Should the Senate agree, the public will have to wait for a written interpretation of the call, void of emotion and the urgency of the call? Should the police, fire department or first responders make mistakes in response to the call, those same entities could be in charge of writing the 9-1-1 scripts?
North Dakotan's right to know should be above reproach. Congratulations to Shirley Meyer, our only local representative to vote against the bill. We hope the Senate or, if need be the governor, will follow her lead.
Brock is The Dickinson Press publisher. E-mail him at hbrock@thedickinsonpress.com .
