AG tapped for opinion on health board's ban
Senator Tina Muna Barnes is seeking an opinion from Guam Attorney General John Weisenberger on the legality of a Guam Board of Allied Health Examiners resolution that bans all recording devices from their government meetings.
By KUAM Newsby Nick Delgado
Guam - Senator Tina Muna Barnes is seeking an opinion from Guam Attorney General John Weisenberger on the legality of a Guam Board of Allied Health Examiners resolution that bans all recording devices from their government meetings. Barnes says that the boards' actions violate the open government law that expressly provides for the attendance at agency meetings by accredited news reporters and photographers.
The senator also included in her packet an opinion from the board attorney Assistant AG David Highsmith that states neither the First Amendment nor the Open Government Law creates a right to tape a public meeting, and that the board has the authority to conduct its meetings as it wishes.
The board did not allow our camera's in during an early-June meeting that discussed the licensing issue of Wise Owl Animal Care Hospital owner Dr. Joel Joseph. Barnes says she is seeking the AG's opinion in hopes to help rectify the situation.