Do legislators have a right to privacy?

AuthorBirdsong, Nicholas
PositionYES, NO, MAYBE SO ETHICS IN THE WORLD OF LEGISLATURES - Column

Most people don't immediately associate privacy rights with government ethics. In the hundreds of statutes, academic articles, news stories and recordings of committee testimony I've reviewed, only once or maybe twice has privacy been mentioned, and even then only in passing. Common ethics topics include conflict of interest prohibitions, lobbyist regulations and financial disclosure rules, but not privacy.

It's not surprising, however, that a public official might think about privacy rights when required by ethics disclosure laws to make considerable amounts of personal financial information public. Ethics laws in some states require legislators to release information about debts owed, property owned, gifts received or given, client lists and similar details on their family.

My parents taught me growing up that it was uncouth to discuss financial matters outside the family. They are not alone in thinking personal money matters should remain private. Broad support for banking privacy laws and the public outcry over financial data breaches, for example, seem to support the idea. Most people do not want their financial information freely available for any stranger to find.

Officials have challenged various financial disclosure requirements on privacy grounds for decades. Judges have considered claims that the laws unconstitutionally intrude into private affairs more than is justified by any public purpose. Critics have also argued that mandatory disclosure rules improperly restrict the right to seek or hold office when they exclude violators from the ballot. Some have further asserted that intrusive ethics laws discourage qualified candidates from running or serving in the legislature.

While courts have largely acknowledged that a right to privacy extends to legislators, that right is generally weighed against the state's interest in a transparent government. Rules that exclude candidates from the...

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