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MEDIA ADVISORY January 19, 2000 |
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AUSTIN, TX -- In a case called "fundamental to public oversight of
government," four major public interest organizations today filed a
brief with the Texas Supreme Court asking the court to reject an
insurance industry attempt to block the release of automobile
insurance data used to detect the presence of insurance
discrimination - or "redlining."
Filing the brief were Consumers Union, the Texas State Conference
of NAACP Branches, the National Council of La Raza, and Common Cause
of Texas. A brief calling for the opening of the records was filed
in late 1999 by the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.
The Texas Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on the matter.
At issue is the release of "quarterly market reports" by the Texas
Department of Insurance. Data from the reports was used in the past
to identify auto insurers that are redlining low income and minority
neighborhoods in Texas. But several insurance companies sued to
block the release of the information and a District Court in Austin
ruled in their favor, saying the information is exempted as an
operation and condition report of a financial institution. The Third
Court of Appeals overturned the District Court's decision and the
insurers appealed that decision to the Texas Supreme Court.
The public interest groups cited the legislative history of the
Texas Public Information Act in their brief to demonstrate that the
insurers' argument is fundamentally flawed. Its adoption would
likely result in the closing of a large volume of documents at the
Texas Department of Insurance - such as annual statements - now
available for public inspection.
"To deny public access to the information thwarts public oversight
of state agencies and regulated industries, and threatens the
fundamental right of the public to monitor the government entities it
created," the groups said in the brief.
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