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2003-2004 Louisiana Attorney General Reports and Opinions 1 (2003-2004)

handle is hein.sag/sagla0003 and id is 1 raw text is: February 27, 2003 Opinion 03-0001 Senator Cleo Fields State Capitol Suite 55 P.O. Box 94183 Baton Rouge, LA 70804 Dear Senator Fields: We have received your opinion request of January 3, 2003 concerning whether certain state laws restrict and/or prohibit public release of information regarding missing children under the Louisiana Amber Alert Plan. We conclude that the release of said information pursuant to the Louisiana Amber Alert Plan does not violate the state law provisions you referenced, for the reasons set forth below. 1. LSA-R.S. 46:1844(W) and Louisiana Children's Code Article 811.1 are addressed jointly, because they each provide for the protection of the identities and addresses of juvenile crime victims in order to provide for their safety and welfare. First of all, it appears that these provisions are not yet triggered at the time an Amber Alert is put into effect, because they apply only to children who are crime victims. Louisiana Children's Code Article 811.3(3) defines juvenile crime victim as a person under the age of seventeen against whom an offense against the person that is a felony has been committed. At the early, exigent stage at which an Amber Alert is put into effect -- i.e., as soon as possible following a child's disappearance -- there has been no certain determination that the child is yet a crime victim as contemplated by these laws, even though there may be a strong suspicion or likelihood of such. However, even assuming for the sake of argument that they are applicable, the spirit of these provisions is entirely consistent with the stated goals of the Louisiana Amber Alert Plan, which is to protect children. The overwhelming singular purpose of the Amber Alert is to locate and protect the missing child as rapidly as possible following their disappearance. The provisions above were designed to protect the privacy of minors after a crime has been committed against them, not to thwart efforts to locate missing children who may be in grave danger. A logical reading of these provisions suggests that the information released under the Amber Alert does not violate their spirit and intent.

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