The University filed a lawsuit last week challenging a ruling that would require almost complete disclosure of documents related to surveillance cameras on its campuses, citing "the protection of national security" as a compelling reason for withholding information from The Daily Texan.
The suit filed in Travis County District Court Wednesday stated the University's opposition to Attorney General Greg Abbott's opinion that would force the University to release the information under Texas' open records laws.
On Oct. 11, The Daily Texan requested information concerning the location, recording hours, technical specifications and the cost of surveillance cameras operating within the University. The University denied that request, claiming the information "could be used to thwart security and avoid detection" and that "knowledge of the measures and tools currently in place reveals where security may be vulnerable and provides a description of what maximum security for a given area may be and how detection can be circumvented."
The Daily Texan believes the University provided no convincing evidence for withholding information.
"The University and its lawyers are grasping at straws by stating that these records should be withheld because of national security," said Ryan D. Pittman, managing editor of The Daily Texan. "I'm confident the court will find that the public's right to know trumps the University's desire to keep public records private."
Patricia Ohlendorf, UT's general counsel, said the disclosure of surveillance information compromises campus safety.
"It is critical that these records remain private so we can ensure the safety of the public, our employees, our students and staff," Ohlendorf said.
The University would likely appeal any court decision that would require the disclosure of security information, Ohlendorf said.
"We feel that this is a very, very important issue," she said.
But Abbott, the acting attorney general since December, remained adamant that state agency records should remain open.
The attorney general does not consider security cameras to be a part of the national security plan, Abbott's spokeswoman Angela Hale told The Associated Press on Friday.
In addition to UT's national security argument, lawyers are challenging the attorney general's opinion because of an alleged procedural error.
Ohlendorf consulted the UT System general counsel Cullen M. Godfrey and UT President Larry Faulkner before soliciting the service of Austin law firm Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, which filed the suit on the University's behalf. This is the first time the University has challenged the attorney general under the Texas Open Records Act, Ohlendorf said.
The University submitted a copy of the White House document establishing the Department of Homeland Security as evidence to the court. The USA Patriot Act is also cited by Godfrey as part of a series of laws that "has actively encouraged the states to increase security over existing infrastructure to protect this country from attacks against terrorists."
Mark Goodman, executive director of the Arlington, Va.-based Student Press Law Center, said he has never heard of a university challenging an open records request on the basis of national security.
"It's a very disturbing argument," Goodman said. "If the court were to buy that it is a matter of national security, there's no end to where government entities would use that argument to withhold public records."
Be the first to comment on this article!