New Hampshire Supreme Court extends Right-to-Know Law

The New Hampshire Supreme Court on Friday unanimously supported the state’s Right-to-Know Law and ordered a private organization that represents public agencies to release its salary information, The Associated Press reported.

A firefighters’ union had asked an organization that represents schools and municipalities to release its salary information so it could track the way the organization uses tax-dollars to pay for health insurance. The umbrella organization, Local Government Center, Inc., refused, saying it was not covered by the Right-to-Know Law.

But the state’s high court disagreed. In the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Broderick wrote that, "Public scrutiny can expose corruption, incompetence, inefficiency, prejudice, and favoritism… [and] is essential to the transparency of government, the very purpose underlying the Right-to-Know Law."