Community needs information to respond

“It is vital in a democratic society that public business be performed in an open and public manner so that our citizens shall have the opportunity to observe the performance of public officials and to monitor the decisions that are made by such officials in formulating and executing public policy . . ." ­- Opening sentence, Delaware’s Freedom of Information Act

When news circulated in late September that a 7­-year­-old boy named Nathan Leppo had taken his own life at a home in Oak Orchard, many people were flabbergasted at the mere thought of a 7-­year-­old suicide.

But when reporter Melissa Steele began asking questions of state officials so we could report responsibly and accurately about a highly unusual and disturbing incident, she found one closed door after another.

Even Department of Justice officials, charged by the Freedom of Information Act with protecting the public’s right to know, blocked efforts to verify the identity of the boy and the manner of his death.

In 2006, a Justice Department official, asked by the Medical Examiner’s Office what information it could disclose when a person dies, said the public was entitled to know whether the death was natural, accidental or homicide.

In denying the request for information in accordance with that interpretation, another justice official recently said no statute or case law requires disclosure in all cases. The official said the private nature of medical examiner files and the fact that the decedent was a minor led to the denial of the information.

Confirmation of Nathan Leppo’s suicide came inadvertently, in a Division of Family Services hearing, and a family member provided the publicly ­funded autopsy information the state refused to disclose. Without that, the Cape Gazette would not have had the information needed to provide a responsible story, and the community would not have information needed to ask important questions about the effectiveness of state programs involving at­-risk children.

Instead of answering questions, state officials have raised questions about who they’re trying to protect.

Nathan’s dead. It’s too late to protect him. State lawmakers should amend the Freedom of Information Act laws to ensure basic death information - cause and manner - lies within information the public has a right to know.