Arm yourself with knowledge of your rights
Issue date: 3/13/08 Section: Editorial
Here at The Nicholls Worth, it is sometimes difficult to obtain information for an article or contact a source for an assignment.
This week, however, it was exceptionally difficult to receive information from the one source one would think would want to help as much as possible.
The Thibodaux Police Department denied our staff a public record regarding an initial arrest report Tuesday on the basis that "it was still under investigation."
When we were denied access, our editor immediately researched the public information laws and found that by law we should have received the report.
The Louisiana public records law states "the initial report of the officer or officers investigating a complaint, but not to apply to any follow-up or subsequent report or investigation, records of the booking of a person as provided in Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 228, records of the issuance of a summons or citation and records of the filing of a bill of information shall be a public record."
The report also states seven items must be in the report: a narrative description, the name and identification of each person charged with or arrested for the alleged offense, the time and date of the alleged offense, the property involved, vehicles involved and the names of investigating officers.
As you can see, this type of public record is essential for notifying our readers of the crimes in our community, and we use the laws to access government records because it's what we are here to provide information to our readers.
It is just strange the police department is supposed to protect and serve, but instead they basically broke one of the laws they were sworn to protect.
We immediately returned to the police station armed with the laws and expressed concern to an officer.
When asked why we were denied, we said "it was still under investigation" but continued by reading the entire law and our rights to the officer, and we were immediately assured we could have the report.
Even though we had to pay ten bucks for a sheet of paper, it was well worth it because we stood up for ourselves, not only as a little campus newspaper but as individual citizens exercising our rights.
This brings up the point that these public information laws do not only pertain to the media, but they are there for everyone to use.
It is important for students to know their rights. If you have not taken a law or ethics class, you may not know that they apply to you.
Some individuals or organizations may assume you do not know your rights, or they may not know your rights, so may purposely or unintentionally deny you the information you deserve.
So we leave you with this: arm yourself with the knowledge necessary to gain the information you need, stand up for your rights, and don't let anyone take them away from you.
This week, however, it was exceptionally difficult to receive information from the one source one would think would want to help as much as possible.
The Thibodaux Police Department denied our staff a public record regarding an initial arrest report Tuesday on the basis that "it was still under investigation."
When we were denied access, our editor immediately researched the public information laws and found that by law we should have received the report.
The Louisiana public records law states "the initial report of the officer or officers investigating a complaint, but not to apply to any follow-up or subsequent report or investigation, records of the booking of a person as provided in Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 228, records of the issuance of a summons or citation and records of the filing of a bill of information shall be a public record."
The report also states seven items must be in the report: a narrative description, the name and identification of each person charged with or arrested for the alleged offense, the time and date of the alleged offense, the property involved, vehicles involved and the names of investigating officers.
As you can see, this type of public record is essential for notifying our readers of the crimes in our community, and we use the laws to access government records because it's what we are here to provide information to our readers.
It is just strange the police department is supposed to protect and serve, but instead they basically broke one of the laws they were sworn to protect.
We immediately returned to the police station armed with the laws and expressed concern to an officer.
When asked why we were denied, we said "it was still under investigation" but continued by reading the entire law and our rights to the officer, and we were immediately assured we could have the report.
Even though we had to pay ten bucks for a sheet of paper, it was well worth it because we stood up for ourselves, not only as a little campus newspaper but as individual citizens exercising our rights.
This brings up the point that these public information laws do not only pertain to the media, but they are there for everyone to use.
It is important for students to know their rights. If you have not taken a law or ethics class, you may not know that they apply to you.
Some individuals or organizations may assume you do not know your rights, or they may not know your rights, so may purposely or unintentionally deny you the information you deserve.
So we leave you with this: arm yourself with the knowledge necessary to gain the information you need, stand up for your rights, and don't let anyone take them away from you.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Jana
posted 3/14/08 @ 1:24 PM MST
Good job, Nicholls Worth! Young people aren't always taken seriously as citizens, and you proved why they should be!
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