Freedom of Information

The first amendment is for every one that lives in the USA, no matter their age, sex, race, religion, or political views. The children of our society are our future and should be protected by the first amendment and by other laws as well. The freedom of information is not one of the 5 main points specifically listed in the first amendment but it still relates to the first amendment in many ways. The case that I am looking at can be found here. The case I am looking at takes place in the state of New Jersey and is in the regards of the police not releasing the Use of Force Reports in relations to incidents that involved minors. There are several incidents that the police used some kind of force on a minor in other states as well including Ohio and Pennsylvania. The fact that there are police officers using force like tasers and clubs on minors is a different issue and argument. The things I want to focus on is the police department in NJ is not releasing the Use of Force Reports that involve minors. Their argument for not releasing the documents is that they are protecting the privacy of the minors mentioned in the reports. This is a unsupported and invalid argument because the actual and private information of the minors can be changed to fake names or left out and the propose and meaning of the documents will not be compromised. The purpose of the police is to be public servants to the public therefor the public should be able to view reports about members of the public that involve police if they are using force or not. 

The purpose of the press is to the report and inform the public on what is going on in the community, what the government is doing, and on incidents that might have happened that affect the community and could involve police or not. The first amendment is in play here for a couple reasons. The first reason is the freedom of the press is included in the amendment and they can report on anything that happens in their reporting area but they are not given the public information that they should have in order to inform the public. This same information should be released to the normal public as well, so they can read and review it if they want. The other reason why this case goes against the first amendment is the fact that reports should be released has been supported by a court case based on this same issue. The case is State v Neulander  which address how “commentary and reporting on the criminal justice system is at the core of the First Amendment values, for the operation and integrity of the system is of crucial import to citizens concerned with the administration of government.” 

People need to know how other people are being treated by the police or public servants. Anything that involves the government should be released to the public and if not then it goes against the first amendment in a very serve way. The first amendment covers a lot more than just speech and a lot more than just what is listed in the first amendment. We all need to know the first amendment so we know what we are entitled and make sure the government is holding up to what is written in the first amendment. Privacy is important but can be protected while still being transparent with the public and staying true to the first amendment.