It’s not scarlet, and it’s not a letter, but a bill before the state Legislature that would require drunk drivers to put florescent yellow license plates on their cars makes quite a few think of author Nathaniel Hawthorne’s tale of Hester Prynne wearing the scarlet letter A for adultery… and wearing the shame.
Open Records works because it changes individual behavior. Corrupt politicians or violent sex offenders love the dark recesses of anonymity. Disclosure is painful. The behaviorist response to pain is to avoid it.
Maybe avoidance of the pain of disclosure will prevent more drunk drivers.
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