BLOOMINGTON, IL. (ECWd) –
Bloomington School District 87 has been violating the Open Meetings Act by demanding people reveal their home addresses in order to participate in public comment.
See examples of this unlawful demand by D87 (HERE, HERE, and HERE) – even demanding the addresses of children who wished to speak – all while knowing it is being videotaped and uploaded to various social media platforms.
The Illinois Attorney General has already issued multiple opinions, at least as far back as 2014, stating that requiring addresses to speak, or even to attend, during public meetings violated the Open Meetings Act.
“. . . the Attorney General noted that the plain language of Section 2.06(g) does not require that a person provide his or her address before he or she can speak. Moreover, a person’s right to comment at a public meeting under Section 2.06(g) is not contingent upon where he or she resides. Thus, the Attorney General found that requiring a speaker to disclose his or her home address before addressing the public body would have a chilling effect on individuals who wish to speak at public meetings—and, as such, is inconsistent with the Open Meetings Act.”
D87 should reconsider its unlawful requirement of providing a home address as a prerequisite for providing public comment.
Thanks to BLN News for the videos used in this article.
