Alabama Utility Commission To Consider Ban on Recording Meetings
When Laura Casey attended a highly-anticipated hearing of the Alabama Public Service Commission (PSC) in November, she wanted to record it for people who couldn’t be there.
“My understanding was that the Open Meetings Act, which is the law of the state of Alabama, allows people to record their public officials in action,” said Casey, who is the Democratic candidate for commission president this year.
But PSC officials ordered her to stop recording and ejected her from the room. Casey filed a lawsuit accusing the commission of violating the state’s Open Meetings Act. In the suit, the PSC said formal hearings are not meetings, so the commission is not required to let people record them. A Montgomery circuit court judge agreed, ruling that because commissioners did not “deliberate” during the hearing, it doesn’t qualify as a “meeting.”
Now the PSC is formalizing that stance and adding additional restrictions with its proposed Media Coverage Plan. Under the new rules, people can not live stream or even update social media during formal hearings. News organizations must request permission to record or photograph at least five days in advance, and all parties involved in the hearing must allow it. Any party can also ask to stop the recording at any time during the hearing.
Frank LoMonte, media law professor at the University of Florida and director of the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, said the restrictions are similar to those of judicial bodies and trial courts.
“That would be a very unusual and extreme policy for any type of an executive branch agency,” LoMonte said.
He said the Public Service Commission, which regulates state utilities, is governed by Alabama’s Open Meetings Act, whether it is conducting a meeting or a hearing.
“The state Open Meetings Act is very clear that the right to attend the meeting includes the right to non-disruptively make a recording of it,” LoMonte said.
The Alabama Broadcasters Association, Alabama Press Association and AL.com are in agreement. In comments submitted to the PSC, the groups said the commission does not have the legal authority to prohibit recordings or require consent from all parties in a hearing.
“This veto power places unprecedented authority in the hands of a select few persons and is clearly meant to suppress public scrutiny based on a single vote,” the groups wrote.
The PSC adopted the Media Coverage Plan on an interim basis in March, days before hearings began regarding Alabama Power’s proposed $1.1 billion expansion. The commission wrote that it decided to temporarily adopt the plan “after due consideration of the current state of technology and the potential impact that recording and broadcasting can have on formal hearings.” It said the new rules will help “preserve the integrity” of formal hearings.
Laura Casey, who is appealing the trial court’s decision rejecting her lawsuit against the PSC, said the plan further limits transparency of the state’s regulatory agency.
“They are effectively shutting down the Public Service Commission to the public,” Casey said.
The commission will accept comments on the media plan through Friday and will later vote on permanently adopting the rules at a monthly meeting.
PSC officials declined to be interviewed for this story.
Is Edinburgh’s Fringe still fringe, or has it — gasp — gone mainstream?
It began on the edgy margins of a mainstream festival — which it's now eclipsed. But nearly 80 years on, performers and spectators say rising costs threaten the Fringe's alternative vibe.
Library of Congress acquires only known lyrics sketch of ‘Over the Rainbow’
Scrawled in pencil on a scrap of yellow legal paper by lyricist E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, the artifact is among dozens of treasures from The Wizard of Oz donated by composer Harold Arlen's sister-in-law Rita Arlen.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia detained by ICE during Baltimore check-in
The detention, which was expected, happened after Abrego Garcia walked into the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Baltimore for a check-in after being released from custody on Friday.
Voters weigh in on Birmingham’s future ahead of city election
Birmingham voters will choose from among nine candidates for mayor in elections Tuesday. When residents around the city were asked to share what is on their minds as they head to the ballot box, two issues rose to the top.
Whatever happened to … the race to cure HIV? There’s promising news
At the International AIDS Society meeting this year, a young woman from South Africa spoke. She is the first Black woman from Africa to be potentially cured of HIV.
These fish may feel pleasure while being groomed by other fish
An experiment with threadfin butterflyfish finds that these fish may experience pleasure while being cleaned by bluestreak cleaner wrasse — suggesting this capacity goes far back in animal evolution.
