Jonesboro Sun: House Judiciary should bury SB251

A bill to shrink portions of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act is on the House Judiciary agenda. SB251 would hide motor vehicle accident reports from certain Arkansans for 90 days. To be certain, I find the solicitation of clients through accident reports to be distasteful. Further, as an attorney, I could easily support the bill to help the image of my profession.

On the other hand, when you stand up for the First Amendment, you're obligated to stand up for some pretty distasteful things. This conduct is protected commercial speech, and passing this bill in my opinion is a violation of our oath to uphold the Constitution. When you begin constricting the parameters of what people can say and when they can say it, you're messing with one of the bedrock principles of this country's foundation.

The Jonesboro Sun agrees, saying the bill should be buried in House Judiciary, where it sits after sailing through the Senate with two nays (from Sens. Robert Thompson and David Johnson). We'll give it a fair hearing to be sure, and I'd like to hear from the king of data mining/collection for commercial purposes, which is headquartered right here in Arkansas: Acxiom.

Update: Add a couple of others: The Morning News of NWA; Log Cabin Democrat