III. Rights in Collision: The Individual Right of Privacy and the Public Right to Know
![handle is hein.journals/montlr39 and id is 255 raw text is: III. RIGHTS IN COLLISION: THE INDIVIDUAL
RIGHT OF PRIVACY AND THE PUBLIC RIGHT TO
KNOW
David Gorman
A. Introduction
The focus of this article is different from the two which precede
it. It is not a full exposition of a single guarantee, but takes the form
of a dialectic exposition on the inherent tension between the indi-
vidual right of privacy' and the public right to know.' Each right is
examined independently in terms of its convention history in Mon-
tana, and its implementation in Montana by the courts or legisla-
ture. The development of each right in states which have accorded
it explicit constitutional status is mentioned where illustrative, and
for each right a course of further development in Montana is sug-
gested. The article then comes to its focus, the judicial weighing of
the two rights where they collide. For the purposes of this part of
the discussion, the article will examine the experience of other state
supreme courts in dealing with privacy challenges to public official
financial disclosure laws. Finally, there are some suggestions about
how the problem, should it arise in Montana, may be resolved.
B. The Right of Privacy
Article II, section 10 of the Montana Constitution provides:
The right of individual privacy is essential to the well-being of a
free society and shall not be infringed without the showing of a
compelling state interest.
Among the rights given explicit constitutional status in the
Montana Constitution's Bill of Rights, the right of privacy, like the
right to a clean and healthful environment and the right of equality
among the sexes, has been generated by the pressures of our ad-
vanced technological society. It is interesting to note that the need
for individual privacy was not questioned by the delegates to the
Montana Constitutional Convention, while the need seems never to
have occurred to the drafters of the federal constitution. Montana
is not alone among the states in amending its constitution to reflect
the growing public concern for the preservation of the right of pri-
vacy.
This portion of the article will examine the deliberations of the
Constitutional Convention regarding the right, the recognition and
1. The Constitution of the State of Montana (1972) [hereinafter MONT. CONST.], art.
I, § 10.
2. MONT. CONST., art. II, § 9.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/montlr39&div=17&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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III. Rights in Collision: The Individual Right of Privacy and the Public Right to Know
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