Double Blow

A double blow was struck last week against public officials who deny newsmen access to public records:

P: A New Hampshire superior court ruled that a municipal judge was wrong when he prevented Publisher Tom McKoan of the weekly Pittsfield (N.H.) Valley Times from seeing a court record in the case of a man and woman arrested on a morals charge. Publisher McKoan argued in court that the press and public had a right to see the court record, even though his quiet, conservative paper had no desire to print the record of the case. In overturning the lower court's ruling, the superior court ruled for the first time in the history of the state that a newspaper has the right to examine court records. Said McKoan: "The idea that the average man could be arrested, convicted and sentenced without anyone knowing about it except the police and the judge just doesn't seem right."

P: In Tucson, Arizona Daily Star Editor-Publisher William R. Mathews won the final round of a three-year-long battle to see an attorney general's report on the state land department. Mathews had suspected skulduggery in the leasing of grazing lands, then persuaded Governor Dan E. Garvey to investigate, but was denied access to the report of the investigation. Mathews sued, finally won in the Arizona supreme court two months ago, and last week got from Governor Howard Pyle a copy of the report. On Page One of the Star Mathews promptly printed highlights of the report, which said that a former state official used his position to acquire federally owned land, later sold it for $26,500.

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