![\"CapreAir_Variable\"](\"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/201703_capeair_variable.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div><\/div>\u201cIn a right-to-know case, it\u2019s a balance test between whether that right to know harms the student\u2019s right to privacy,\u201d Hammill said. \u201cIt\u2019s our position that the policy reasons behind those student privacy statutes weigh in favor of never opening those disciplinary records.\u201d<\/p>\nIn recent years, the university system has worked to improve the reporting of campus crimes, in particular sexual assault. Hammill said the guarantee of privacy provides a secure environment in which students can report a crime or testify during a disciplinary hearing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe keep those processes closed because we want students and student witnesses to be able to testify outside the public spotlight without peer pressure before or after a hearing,\u201d Hammill said. \u201cWe want to keep student confidentiality in the student conduct process because we want students to come forward and seek help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mike Meloy, representing Krakauer, argued that the public\u2019s right to know outweighed\u00a0Johnson\u2019s expectation of privacy. He said Seeley applied the balance test appropriately and reached the proper decision when she ordered the university system to release Johnson\u2019s records.<\/p>\n
Meloy added that the public is entitled to know why Christian overturned the findings of the university\u2019s disciplinary panel, and how the school responded as a consequence.<\/p>\n
How campuses respond to allegations of rape is of public interest, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t care about the behavior of Jordan Johnson, we care about the behavior of the commissioner of higher education and the dean of students who reinstated him,\u201d Meloy argued. \u201cNot only do we deserve to know that under constitutional guarantees, but the pubic is entitled to know that in this particular case.\u201d<\/p>\n
Justices quizzed Meloy on the right to privacy, particularly the right of other students named in the records sought by Krakauer, including the woman who filed the complaint against Johnson. Meloy agreed the students\u2019 names should be redacted if the records were to be released.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the actions of the state and university officials his client is after, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re talking about a decision of the university court to expel him (Johnson), a decision of the president of UM to expel him, and then the commissioner gets it and sends it back, but we don\u2019t know why,\u201d Meloy said. \u201cThose documents will reflect that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meloy said the state\u2019s high court has sided with the public\u2019s right to know in similar cases, though justices acknowledged that federal laws have since strengthened student privacy rights.<\/p>\n
Justices also asked if Johnson was entitled to a lesser degree of privacy given his status as collegiate athlete. Meloy said Johnson\u2019s case was highly publicized, both locally and nationally, and the walls of privacy had already been lowered.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere isn\u2019t any privacy there to protect,\u201d Meloy said. \u201cWhen a student athlete signs that code of conduct, they acknowledge that because they participate in intercollegiate sports, they\u2019re subjected to pretty intense public scrutiny. They have to expect that\u2019s going to happen, and they have to acknowledge they\u2019re losing some rights when they become a student athlete because of that scrutiny.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hammill argued otherwise.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re talking about students who attend our public universities to get an education,\u201d Hammill said. \u201cThey\u2019re young people beginning their adult lives, and releasing their records may have a longstanding impact on their future success. Not releasing documents is especially important in cases where there has been no final finding that a serious violation has occurred.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Montana Supreme Court will issue a ruling in the next six to eight months.<\/p>\n
This article originally appeared on Missoula Current<\/a> and is used here by permission. Martin Kidston is the founding editor of Missoula Current.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Montana Supreme Court on Wednesday\u00a0heard oral arguments in a case that pits the public\u2019s right to know against a student\u2019s right to privacy, and whether a lower court erred in granting author Jon Krakauer access to the student\u2019s disciplinary records. Krakauer is seeking records pertaining to the 2012 disciplinary proceedings of Jordan Johnson, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":97,"featured_media":11804,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[4257,2896,3041,4256,294],"class_list":["post-11803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-clayton-christian","tag-jon-krakauer","tag-jordan-johnson","tag-kathy-seeley","tag-montana-supreme-court","prominence-category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/97"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"MSLA\"](\"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/MSLA.jpg\")
<\/a>The Montana Supreme Court on Wednesday\u00a0heard oral arguments in a case that pits the public\u2019s right to know against a student\u2019s right to privacy, and whether a lower court erred in granting author Jon Krakauer access to the student\u2019s disciplinary records.<\/p>\n