A new suggestion by St. Louis County Commissioners would ban private citizens from recording at any board workshops. So, last week the ACLU of Minnesota sent a letter to St. Louis Count Board asking them not to pursue any recording bans. We believe that such a move would not only violate the Minnesota Open Meetings law but also the state and U.S. Constitutional rights to freedom of speech.
The board is considering the ban because recordings that had been made by an attendee at previous meetings were made public and some County Commissioners were criticized for their opposition to the sale of tax forfeited land to local Indian tribes. We hope that the St. Louis Count Commissioner listen to us and do not put the ban into place.