The tragedy in Newtown prompted a series of legislative responses. One of them was to create a task force that will look at the balance between the public's right to know and victim privacy.
That task force held its first meeting to consider how much information about a crime should be released to the public, and how much the public has a right to know. Those are questions before a 17-member panel tasked with reporting back to state lawmakers by January 1.
Don DeCesare one of the panel's co-chairs. "On one level, that seems like a fairly simple task. And on another level, it's extremely complicated." Another panel member is Kevin Kane, the state's top prosecutor. "This is a hugely important issue. And it's a hugely important issue with very strongly-felt feelings -- the right to privacy that victims feel, and their concerns, is a huge and important interest the legislature needs to consider. And also the right of the public to be aware of the workings of government, and the right of the public to know is fundamental. They're both about as fundamental core concerns of a society as you can get."
State lawmakers created the task force as part of a new law that blocked release of crime scene photos and video evidence from the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown and other homicides. The legislation also bars the release of certain police audio tapes until May 2014.
The task force is expected to recommend how such recordings, including descriptions of homicide victims, should be handled in the future.
