Special Ops doxxing protection + Stanley Cup in the Legislative Building
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Senators advanced a bill to exempt special operations personnel ID and location data from.
- Exemptions would shield home addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and schools on request.
- ACLU counsel said other laws curb illegal doxxing and some disclosures are protected.
Good morning! Welcome to Under the Dome, your daily dose of politics news delivered straight to your inbox. I’m legislative and lobbying reporter Esther Frances.
Special Operations protection bill
State Senators have advanced a bill that would no longer classify identification and location information of special operations personnel and their families as a public record.
Home addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth and locations of schools would be exempt from disclosure if a current or former special operations personnel member submitted a request or statement to the agency, if the bill is passed.
Sen. Tom McInnis, a Republican from Moore County and a primary co-sponsor of the bill, told the Senate Finance committee on Tuesday that they have worked with the U.S. military on how to protect the identity of special operators.
“The best, the brightest, and the bravest men and women that we have in our country who have offered to give their life so that we could be here today in freedom and democracy and operate our government in a free way,” he said. “And we want to do everything within our power to make sure they’re protected.”
Reighlah Collins, policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, told lawmakers at a committee meeting last week that other laws already exist to protect against illegal doxxing, and “disclosure of government actors’ names and the places where they conduct their duties is constitutionally protected.”
“As a nation, we have chosen a different course to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate,” she said.
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