OU President David Boren has released a statement ordering OU parking ticket information be available to the public and the media in response to a lawsuit against the university led by Daily staff member Joey Stipek.
Boren's statement follows on the heels of a front-page editorial about The Daily's decision to join and support Stipek in his endeavor, citing that open records are vitally important documents not only for journalists, but for society as a whole.
In Boren's statement that university spokesman Corbin Wallace emailed to Daily editor in chief Blayklee Buchanan, Boren outlines his reasoning for the orders:
"While there are differing interpretations of the federal law, I have personally and carefully considered the issue, and I believe that this action does not violate the intent of the federal privacy law. In my opinion, the records in question are traffic violation records, and are not the kind of sensitive student records, which are covered by the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act. I have directed the General Counsel’s Office and other relevant university officials to take the appropriate steps to implement this decision. I have no reason to believe that there has been any impropriety in the parking ticket program, but I believe that the public has a right to know how it has been implemented."
Stipek sued the university in May 2013 for withholding records that he deemed to be public under the Oklahoma Open Records Act.
"I'm really in shock," Stipek said. "I wasn't expecting this today, truthfully. I'm grateful for president Boren being the kind of leader who listens to students."
This is the first open records-related lawsuit that Stipek's attorney in the case, Nick Harrison, has handled that has followed through to the end, Harrison said.
"[Boren's decision] is definitely a sign the university is moving in the right direction," he said.
The only downfall of Boren's decision is that there will be no legal precedent set since the case will not go to court, but Harrison hopes it will set an informal precedent for other universities to follow.
There is no defined legal procedure that Boren must follow to make a decision like this, said Anil Gollahalli, OU Legal Counsel vice president.
The OU Open Records office said Boren's orders are effective immediately, and the office will fulfill The Daily's current request for parking ticket information that was originally requested and denied two years ago.
