Court Opinion

ID: 9690977
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 19:57:29.209929+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:19:07.626467
License: Public Domain

Concurring in part and Dissenting in part Opinion by
Justice SCOTT.
While I concur with most of the majority’s opinion, I respectfully dissent from the opinion’s lately added “dicta” that in the future all donors to the Commonwealth’s public institutions of higher education will be denied the right to privacy regarding charitable gifts, even if they request anonymity. This court simply does not have the right to pronounce decisions for future courts, or Attorney Generals, on facts that are not before us. Especially one founded on such an unwise policy.
Consider for example:
In an age where the names of wealthy philanthropists adorn buildings on college campuses and are routinely plastered on everything from orchestra programs to park benches, it’s worth noting that many givers take pains to avoid recognition for everything from religious reasons to fear of being deluged with additional requests for donations.
Todd Wallack, Why Some Big-Time Donors Like to Stay Under Wraps; When
Discretion is the Better Part of Philan-throphy, S.F. Chron., Dec. 17, 2006, at 11.
An integral part of the operation of any university or college is the school’s efforts to raise funds and secure donations. Perhaps some persons enjoy whatever publicity they receive as the result of their donations. However, other persons or organizations prefer that their efforts and consideration to donations be kept confidential. This may be particularly true in the case of those making or considering the making of large donations since if this becomes known, generally, they may be contacted and pressured by many other organizations seeking donations. Thus, the expectation of privacy of the donors or potential donors in this particular situation is of importance.
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Therefore, it is the opinion of the Attorney General that the University’s refusal to release the names of the donors and potential donors on whose behalf the University expended money in connection with University fund raising efforts can be supported by the privacy exception set forth in KRS 61.878(l)(a) of the open Records Act....
Ky. OAG 86-76.
Moreover, the “purpose [of the Open Records Act] is not fostered ... by disclosure of information about private citizens that is accumulated in ... government files that reveals little or nothing about an agency’s own conduct.” Zink v. Com., Dept. of Workers’ Claims, Labor Cabinet, 902 S.W.2d 825, 829 (Ky.App.1994). And, as has been noted in Zink, 902 S.W.2d at 828 and Hines v. Com., Dept. of Treasury, 41 S.W.3d 872, 875 (Ky.App.2001), if this information is open to one it is open to all, inviting unwanted attention and, as here, unwanted intrusion.
*826So what public interest could we possibly serve by thumbing our noses at potential wealthy donors who simply will not give if they have to suffer an aftermath of harassment by professional fundraisers? “Benevolent individuals who choose to give should not have their generosity punished with unwanted telephone appeals and inundated mailboxes.” Bruce Mohl, Most Chanties Sell Names of Donors; Nonprofits Also Swap Lists to Raise Funds, Watchdog Group Says, The Boston Globe, Dec. 2, 2004, at El. Also consider, that every court that has reviewed the question of anonymity for the sixty-two donors that requested it here, including the sealed records, found nothing of interest, or that would benefit, the public good as envisioned by the Open Records Act. As to those that would seek to abuse the process of giving, they would be caught and disclosed anyway in all situations such as this by the Court’s in camera review, which was surely appropriate here. KRS 61.882(3).
At a time when the cost of education is rising, including public tuition, we should be seeking more financial help for those who cannot afford an education, not turning it away with an “I don’t care” attitude. So just what are we achieving by suggesting that anonymity will be denied in all future cases? Nothing — but hurting Kentucky’s children.
Yet hopefully, however, those wealthy donors that are fearful of the future status of anonymity will still give — just maybe to private colleges. Yet, I hate to see our good public institutions put to such a disadvantage without good reason. Thus, I must strongly dissent to the revocation of anonymity forecasted by the fearful “dicta” of the majority’s opinion.