Utah media demand government release names of businesses

“Both state and county health department officials have argued that releasing the names of the businesses is unnecessary from a public health perspective since neither of the businesses directly interact with the public. O’Brien objected to this line of reasoning.

“‘Despite the County’s contentions to the contrary, these businesses indeed are public facing, just like any other business,’ the attorney said. ‘No business is isolated from the public. The two involved businesses may not be store fronts or retail operations, but they likely have sales people, purchase supplies, receive/make deliveries, put their products in the stream of commerce, utilize repair/maintenance services, have business visitors, share space and common building/parking areas with others, and interact for business reasons with others.’

“O’Brien said the county ‘seems concerned that members of the public will not responsibly use the information about the names of the two businesses at issue’ but that ‘such a concern is the tail wagging the dog,’ drawing parallels to debates about gun control.”

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