Here we go again… another legislator who doesn’t understand FERPA? Tony Catinella reports:
Hingham’s State Senator Robert Hedlund believes the public has the right to know the Marathon bombing suspect’s college records after UMass Dartmouth has refused to release them.
Hedlund, a Republican State Senator told Fox News Insider, “once you engage in the kinds of activities these punks engaged in, you forfeit whatever right to privacy remains.”
Read more on HinghamPatch.
It doesn’t matter what Senator Hedlund believes. All that matters is what the law – FERPA – says. If law enforcement wants the records, they can get them by court order or subpoena. Without that, the uni would need the student’s consent to disclose anything other than what the uni policy specifies as “directory information.” Public curiosity does not trump FERPA.