Everybody knows the dice are loaded

Everybody knows the dice are loaded I thought as I read County lawsuits reveal open records realities in the The Garden Island newspaper this morning. Inaccessible public records is not a reality but an ongoing nightmare for the citizens of Kaua`i, and only a philanthropist with money flowing out their nose, or a legion of pro bono attorneys with a sense of social justice will wake the people up and stop this abuse of process.

The article by Amanda Gregg recounted the tale of former Honolulu Star Bulletin reporter Anthony Sommer who was "allegedly" fired for making a "threat" when requesting County of Kaua`i 2002 executives session minutes. The article failed to mention the charge of terroristic threatening was made by a county attorney and although it got Tony "allegdly" fired the charge never proceeded to court.

Reporter Amanda Gregg writes "some plaintiffs wonder whether officials have been advised to hold out, banking on the chances that most residents have less of a bankroll the county to keep the fight ongoing in court" while attorney Dan Hempy notes that "he really hasn't seen an aggressive push for government records in county court." Could there be a nexus between a lack of money and taking the county to court? Ya think!

The ultra-secretive County of Kauai has never been shy about spending vast amount of the public's money keeping information about their doings out of the public eye. Kauai County has even sued the State Office of Information Practices to keep the public in the dark, and it is a safe bet that with rare exceptions the county can outspend the average citizen (if lawsuit money is short they simple raise taxes).

Combine a secretive spendthrift county with the apparent lack of pro-bono lawyers willing to delay their payday working for the public good (perhaps working as outside council for the county is more lucrative), and you have a neutered state open records law -- on the books, but like county public records are inaccessible to members of the public lacking the county's deep pockets.

Even Tony Sommer's case described in the article as having the "potential to set a precedent" settled for a document with sixteen paragraphs redacted (no doubt the most important parts). Unfortunately Tony "didn't have the financial stamina to keep the case going to the appellate level". Kudos to Tony for putting his financial foot forward, but his case is just the tip of the iceberg. There are literally hundreds of potential open records cases that never see the light of a courtroom due to the counties endless stream of public money and equal lack of prob bono lawyers willing to work in the public interest.

If anyone knows or is a rich philanthropist or a pro bono attorney with a sense of social justice give me a call. I need help clearing out a humongous backlog of open records requests but regrettably lack the financial stamina to avail myself of the judicial process.