Blue Mass Group

Bumped in light of the following response from Rep. O'Flaherty, which I received by email this morning:

Dear David: The Joint Committee on the Judiciary handles the most controversial proposals on Beacon Hill. As a result, testimony received, oral & written, is often very personal and is submitted because the hope is it will influence policy decisions. We receive testimony from rape victims, child rape victims, sexual assault victims, from businesses in pending issues like intellectual property and patent rights. My point is there would be a chilling effect on the submission of such testimony if the proffers knew it was for public consumption and the issues they raise would be scrutinized by individuals other than committee members. Your "disturbing" report is accurate and is the policy of the House Judiciary Committee. Our hearings are open to the public and any information conveyed at such is for all to hear. If individuals want to attend and contact witnesses and request their testimony or information, that is their job to do, not our committee's policy given the considerations I've previously mentioned. I hope this offers some rationale for our policy and although, being presumptuous, I anticipate it will not satisfy your question or concern, the balancing of the need to receive testimony versus disclosure weighs in favor of our current policy. Gene

- promoted by david

(Of course bloggers are journalists, from the lowest to the highest. And the more FOIA requests they make, the better. Thanks, Ted. - promoted by Bob Neer)

- promoted by Bob_Neer

(Hmm. Another interesting Brown quote from the article:

He reiterated his opposition to the federal overhaul, while offering no opinion on the success of the Massachusetts law, deferring instead to Patrick.

"Best to check with him what his position is on that,'' Brown said. "He's the governor.''

So Brown basically gets elected because of the health care morass (before it actually got passed), and now he doesn't have an opinion about the success of the law the national law was based upon?

Eh? - promoted by Charley on the MTA)

- promoted by charley-on-the-mta

("A resident of Indiana, Myers badly injured her shoulder, had no health insurance and no money, and believed that the only way she could be treated was to take a pistol from her in-laws and fire it at point blank range into her own arm." Link. - promoted by Bob Neer)

- promoted by Bob_Neer