Madeline
Rookie
- Banned
- #21
Well, I think it was a correct decision. I'm not a big fan of marking government documents "top secret" and withholding them from the public. As for legitimate public use, I don't think any citizen needs to tell the government why he wants a document or what he plans to do with it, but here are a few:
* A reporter might want to go through and see whether anyone noteworthy signed.
* Any organization might want to use the list to help build a mailing list.
* A DA might want to know if a defendant signed if he was evaluating a case for a hate crime enhancement.
* A GLBT person might want to know whether any of his family or neighbors signed.
I could go on, but why? I can ask for the architecural drawings for any government building (a document I could never decipher nor use) and the government (mostly) has to give them to me. I think people lose sight of the fact that government employees work for us and their workproduct belongs to us.
* A reporter might want to go through and see whether anyone noteworthy signed.
* Any organization might want to use the list to help build a mailing list.
* A DA might want to know if a defendant signed if he was evaluating a case for a hate crime enhancement.
* A GLBT person might want to know whether any of his family or neighbors signed.
I could go on, but why? I can ask for the architecural drawings for any government building (a document I could never decipher nor use) and the government (mostly) has to give them to me. I think people lose sight of the fact that government employees work for us and their workproduct belongs to us.