An assault on open records

Legislation that would further restrict public access to government documents in Maryland belongs in the trashcan. The state's Public Information Act has enough exceptions in it already, and this bill would add the onerous step of having to go to court to try and review something as basic as payroll records or police arrest statistics if they figure in a civil lawsuit. This is not one of Mayor Sheila Dixon's administration's finer efforts.

The city-sponsored bill would permit a custodian of public records to deny access to a document or information if it is "related to a matter that is the subject of a pending civil action." Once denied, a citizen, lawyer or journalist seeking the documents would have to petition a court for review. Talk about throwing up a barrier to reviewing public documents. That aspect of the bill alone should lead to its demise.

As introduced, the bill has been opposed by Maryland judges and the American Civil Liberties Union, which has lawsuits pending that involve public records.

The city contends that it wanted to stop the practice of parties in a civil lawsuit using - or abusing - the state's public records law to get information denied through the regular legal process. When the city's bill is redrafted to reflect that limited concern, it may be less objectionable.

But if the city or other government agency faced such a pesky litigant, our advice would be: Take it up with a judge. A warrior for decent housing

A warrior for decent housing

Our colleague Dan Rodricks offered a lovely homage to Lorraine Johnson, one of the original plaintiffs in the long-standing lawsuit Thompson v. HUD that challenged housing segregation policies in Baltimore. Ms. Johnson, who died last month, had finally moved to a home in Baltimore County after being involved in the lawsuit that has been active for more than a decade. But she represented the hopes of many public housing residents, whose first desire is for a decent neighborhood and a better school for their children.