 |
South Dakota judge orders meetings open
University board of regents tried to close president interviews to media
September 15, 2006
South Dakota State University
Collegian Editor in Chief Jeremy Fugleberg said the board of regents
invited students to attend the forums scheduled for Sept. 14 and Sept. 15, but
said student journalists would be asked to leave, which prompted Fugleberg to
take legal action. South Dakota Circuit Court Judge Rodney Steele issued the
seven-day restraining order requiring the university to open the meetings,
because the student journalists would “suffer the immediate and
irreparable injury of being unable to attend and/or report on the
forums.”
“As a student I am here for me, and as a journalist
I’m here for a different role — to record history and inform the
student body,” Fugleberg said. “I take that responsibility
seriously.”
John Arneson, the Collegian’s lawyer,
argued under South Dakota’s open meetings law that the meeting should be
open to the media because it is a forum of interaction between several
constituencies and not a discussion of personnel issues.
According to the
Collegian’s complaint, “The forums in issue are clearly
designed to be an exchange between the students and candidates, not an
assessment of the candidates by the regents. The Board of Regents might consider
the ‘feedback’ from the forums in the course of discussing the
‘qualifications...of the prospective public employees’ in an
executive session, should there be a motion and vote to do so, is an entirely
distinct matter and one that is completely irrelevant to this
issue.”
Arneson said the Board of Regents could not “cut out
the fact-finding process” and will come to “its own decision”
on who to hire. The board decided to open the interviews to all media after the
order was issued.
But Fugleberg said he and local journalists were
escorted out of a lunch meeting Thursday after the board went into executive
session. However, notification of a closed meeting and an agenda was not given,
violating the restraining order. Fugleberg said he will pursue further action
regarding the violation at a hearing next week.
The board wanted to sweep
out the media, specifically the student media, from all meetings and forums,
Arneson said.
“Students feel like they are cut out of the
process,” Fugleberg said. “We are receiving a tremendous amount of
support from students, faculty, alumni and the state media.”
Arneson said he will return to court Tuesday to seek a permanent
injunction.
By April Hale, SPLC staff writer
© 2006 Student Press Law Center
Share
For More Information:
< Return to Previous Page