Every 2 years the Oregon DOJ publishes the "Oregon Attorney General's Public Records and Meetings Manual". Essential reading for people trying to use their right to get public records from Oregon government agencies. The Oregon DOJ has been trying to keep me from redistributing this manual.
The Oregon DOJ email to me said:
"The State, by and through DOJ, owns copyright to the Manual, and it is not to be redistributed without our permission in any format. This measure is to help protect the copyright."But James Madison, author of the US Constitution, said:
"A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."Given that this quote is prominently posted on the cover of the very manual which AG John Kroger is trying to keep off the internet, I hold with those who favor farce, and, with the help of Carl Malamud at public.resource.org, I've posted the manual online at my official UO faculty website.
So, you can go here and pay the DOJ $25 for the dead-tree version or download a searchable and environmentally friendly 6MB pdf, free, here.
UPDATE: In November - 5 months after I first tried to get this manual, the AG caved. It's now posted online at the Oregon DOJ website complete with a creative commons copyright.
More on this is on the OPB show Think Out Loud with Attorney General John Kroger and UO Economics Professor Bill Harbaugh. Stories in Oregonian, RG, Jack Bog, LoveSalem, Oregonian Editorial.
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