Blunt signs bill, says ignore it

Yet another example of sterling leadership from Missouri Governor Matt Blunt.
Blunt signed HB 420 into law Wednesday, but asked legislators to repeal it when they meet for the veto session. Ignore it, he said, failing to explain why he signed it in the first place.
HB 420, which has been examined before in The Turner Report, would make it illegal to post the addresses and telephone numbers of public officials and law enforcement officers on the Internet without their consent.
The law will go into effect Aug. 28, but don't do anything about it, the governor said, according to The Associated Press.
"It would be a very exaggerated response for state and local officials to allow the enactment of this bill to alter in any way their Internet sites," Blunt was quoted as saying in the article.
Some county officials have said they might have to remove public information from their websites, such as real estate records, criminal records, civil lawsuits that contain information about public officials.
It was noted in one article that the officials who maintain these websites many times have no idea who the people are from other jurisidictions who own property or file civil suits. They might be unintentionally breaking the law.
The Missouri Press Association had urged Blunt to veto the bill, but this is not a bill that affects just the press; it affects the rights of every citizen to have access to information.
Blunt said he signed the bill because it had some good things in it, none of them having to do with public information, but with other aspects of the bill.
Apparently, the governor forgot about the line item veto and took the coward's way out. He must have a pretty good idea that this is not going to be a major concern of the Republican-led legislature since it has nothing to do with big business.
Don't be surprised if we soon see public information being removed from the Internet.