The Montana Constitution's right-to-know provisions withstood another test Wednesday - this time over a state agency's objections to opening up documents that could be used against it in a federal lawsuit. Sorry, Helena District Judge Thomas Honzel correctly said, but it doesn't matter what public records might be used for - they're still open to the public.

The matter involved the long-standing dispute over the treatment of bison that wander from Yellowstone National Park. Three groups that object to hazing or killing them have filed a federal lawsuit over those management practices.

Thirteen months ago, they also asked the state Livestock Department for a variety of records concerning the bison, including files on use of helicopters to haze the animals and documents on the operation of a bison capture facility.

The department balked, contending the request was a "backdoor tactic" to get information the organizations want to use in their federal lawsuit. It said the groups were improperly trying to use state court to intrude in the federal-court discovery process.

Honzel said that argument - that the federal case trumps the public's right to know guaranteed by the state constitution - doesn't wash. "I don't think there's any question that members of the plaintiff's organizations have a right to inspect public documents," the judge said. "I think the department has an obligation to make its documents open for inspection for whatever reason."

With its main argument shot down, lawyers for the agency said they would go through the records and try to accommodate their federal-court foes.

The case wasn't all that big a deal, but it shows that a public agency can find many reasons for withholding documents. It also shows that without a strong argument for privacy, those reasons don't hold water.

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