Editorial: CORA fix headed down dangerous path

The Denver Post: Government does not need another broad exemption to the Colorado Open Records Act.

What government does need is to be required to release documents and data in the usable digital formats in which the information already exists. That is a common-sense change to the existing CORA law that could make it incrementally better and more open.

Senate Bill 40 would do just that.

But Wednesday the bill was amended several times to tack on either unrelated CORA issues that will drag down an otherwise straightforward bill, or in one case to include a dangerous exemption that could be abused.

Attorney General Cynthia Coffman requested the bill be amended to allow records custodians to refuse to release “any records the inspection of which is reasonably likely to compromise the safety or security of any natural person.”

Let’s pause a moment to think about just how broadly that could be interpreted by a public official hoping not to release documents that make them look bad. If the documents were bad enough, an elected official could be the “natural person” and the danger could be the public outrage that would ensue from such documents being released.

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