Monday, April 26, 2010

Legal Skirmish over Civil War Psych Records

Reporter Tom Scheffey has an interesting story in the Connecticut Law Tribune about a public-records fight over psychiatric records of Civil War soldiers.

A professor and a graduate student at Central Connecticut State University wanted access to the records in connection with the student's research for his thesis involving post-traumatic stress disorder.

The state fought the request, citing a psychiatrist-patient privilege enacted in Connecticut in 1969. The professor and his student fought back, arguing that the privilege was not intended to be applied retroactively, and won a ruling from the state Freedom of Information Commission ordering release of the records.

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