MISSOULA — The Montana Supreme Court has ruled that records of college students have a heightened level of privacy protection.
The Missoulian reports that the high court rejected the wholesale public release of disciplinary records related to a former University of Montana quarterback who had been accused of rape.
The court on Monday ordered that the records sought by author Jon Krakauer be reviewed confidentially by a lower court judge to determine if any should be released publicly. Krakauer wanted to know, for a book he was writing, why the Commissioner of Higher Education vacated campus decisions to expel the quarterback, who was later acquitted of rape.
The lower court had earlier ruled that Krakauer was entitled to the documents under Montana’s public-records laws.
The Montana University System argued that releasing the information would violate student privacy laws.