A Juneau nurse, represented by the Alaska Civil Liberties Union, filed a class action lawsuit Monday against the state of Alaska to keep her personal address out of the public files, which she says can endanger her.
The suit centers on nurse Maryjane Hinman's complaint that her address was made public through her professional licensing file. Her address is available on a state Division of Occupational Licensing Web site. It also can be obtained by purchasing a compact disc or filing a public records request, said Jason Brandeis, an attorney with the ACLU.
Brandeis said the case looks at the balance between opening up public information and protecting a person's private rights. In this case, he said, private rights need to prevail. Keeping an address in a public file does not further the state's mission of regulating professions and ensuring the public is receiving safe and adequate services, he said.
A director with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, however, said this information is valuable to reporters and watchdog groups which use addresses to verify a person's identity.
"We've been very concerned with the real drive to take off residential addresses from public records," said Rebecca Daugherty, Freedom of Information Service Center director for the group based in Virginia. Daugherty said she would not object to someone asking for an exception in the case of domestic abuse or stalking, but the exception should not become the rule for everyone.
Patrick Dougherty, editor of the Daily News, said there's a clear public interest in the credentials of certain professionals, including nurses.
"This lawsuit attempts to undermine public access under the mistaken impression that the plaintiff's problem will be solved," he said. "In 30 minutes, I was able to find Ms. Hinman's address in half a dozen different public sources, including reference books that are standard in any public library. That will be true whether she succeeds or fails in her lawsuit."
Licensing information and addresses for architects, dietitians, real estate brokers and other professionals are publicly available at www.commerce.state.ak.us/occ/ through the link called "Professional license search."
Brandeis said Hinman contacted the ACLU in Anchorage, concerned about her right to privacy and a general fear of stalkers getting personal information.
"We did some research, and we determined that this was an egregious violation of not only her right to privacy but the rights of privacy of all licensed nurses in the state," he said.
Hinman's suit is a class-action suit on behalf of all registered nurses in Alaska, Brandeis said. The ACLU, along with other Alaska lawyers, volunteered to advise Hinman and help her file the suit in the Alaska Superior Court, said Michael Macleod-Ball, executive director of the Alaska ACLU affiliate. The defendants include the state; Edgar Blatchford, commissioner of the state Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development; and Rick Urion, director of the state Division of Occupational Licensing.
Blatchford could not be reached. Hinman did not attend the Alaska Civil Liberties Union announcement of the lawsuit in Anchorage, and her home phone number is unlisted; Brandeis said she did not want to be contacted by the media.
Brandeis said Massachusetts also licensed Hinman as a nurse, and did not put her address in a public record.
Hinman's complaint says she was required to give a mailing address when she applied for a license in Alaska. Valid addresses included her business or home address or a post office box, Brandeis said. Hinman's employer did not want her receiving personal mail at work.
Hinman said she didn't think she should have to pay for a post office box. Since 2000, Hinman asked the state several times to stop making her address public, Brandeis said.
Barbara Gabier, chief of licensing for the state Division of Occupational Licensing, said Monday that her division has heard similar complaints and has told people their address is considered public information.
"So we're not allowed to withhold it," she said.
Daily News reporter Ann Potempa can be reached at 257-4581 or apotempa@adn.com.
