| Sunshine Laws are meant to cast light on the government’s actions by giving the public
easy access to government records. The public, in turn, can use the government’s records to
evaluate the efficiency and performance of the government. However, since government records,
also contain information that most people consider private, this right to government documents
can also shine a light on the most vulnerable members of society. Privacy interests are implicated
every time a government record is requested. In Idaho, government agents may redact private
information from a government record when “its release would be an unwarranted invasion of
privacy.” Since the Idaho Legislature has never defined what constitutes an unwarranted
invasion of privacy, the release of these sensitive records is largely up to the discretion of the
record custodian. Due to this discretion, differing governmental agencies (and sometimes
individuals within the same agency) have differing policies.
The focus of this project is to understand how perceptions of victims shape victim
protection policies in Idaho public records laws. This analysis will seek to understand the
viewpoints of three different groups of people—the public, record custodians, and state
legislators, and untangle how the triad of these perspectives influences victim record redaction
policy in Idaho. This project includes original research from surveyed students at Idaho State
University about their views of redactions, a survey of record custodians in Idaho, and a
narrative analysis of state legislators as they discuss an amendment concerning victims.
The findings suggest that for all three groups knowledge on this issue is low. The public’s
value on what ought to remain private and what ought to be released do not align with the state’s
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policy. This ambiguity results in record custodians weighing their redaction decisions on their
perceptions of victims and the rights of the press. Finally, using a narrative policy framework
analysis, the analysis shows that legislator’s views on victims, including negative stereotyping of
a victim’s contribution to their own victimization, result in policy decisions that do not
completely protect victims. Keywords: public records, privacy, victims, stigma, press, record custodians, Idaho |