Activists lose records battle

Depending on whom you ask, members of the Utah Primate Freedom Project are seen as watchdogs or attack dogs.

After a lengthy hearing with some heavy debate, the State Records Committee voted Thursday to deny the group its request for a name list of animal researchers out of concern the group, or others, would threaten their safety.

Primarily concerned with the treatment of lab animals at the University of Utah, the group has fought to get information from the university on research projects, but the most recent public information request has raised some controversy.

Jeremy Beckham, president of the student animal-rights group, and fellow U. student Katie Patterson had requested a list of names of primate researchers at the U. Animal Resource Center, under the Utah Government Records and Access Management Act (GRAMA).

"Animal laboratories often say that everything is squeaky-clean in their laboratories," said Beckham. "Having the roster of the employees of the lab will not only help foster a greater sense of public accountability, it will also help us contact potentially sympathetic whistle-blowers."

University officials denied the group's request, citing security concerns. Specifically, officials pointed to the group's members appearing and protesting outside the homes of researchers.

On Thursday, U. Associate General Counsel Phyllis Vetter argued that handing over a list of researcher names would only further the group's "campaign of intimidation and harassment."

Vetter played a video recording of one of the protests in front of a researcher's Avenues home in Salt Lake City. Protesters carried signs, and Beckham can be seen yelling into a bullhorn. "I'll be here in a walker with this bullhorn if I need to," Beckham says in the video, calling the researcher's work a "pile of crap."

During Thursday's hearing, Beckham said he and Patterson were not seeking the home addresses or phone numbers of researchers and pointed out some of the more prominent researchers have their names and photos published on the U.'s Web site and in press releases.

"They forget that all of these people are public employees, paid for by tax dollars and tuition by students," Beckham said.

Under GRAMA, the identity, position and salary of government employees are presumed public record and limited to a few exceptions, mainly geared toward law enforcement.