An analysis of the recent open meetings lawsuit against the Campbell County Board of Education appearing in today's Northern Kentucky Tribune:

"Neither the courts nor the Kentucky Attorney General have previously addressed the legal question: what constitutes an illegal condition on access to public meetings? The question [of a mask requirement for in-person attendance at a public meeting] arises in the unique, and legislatively unforeseeable, context of a global pandemic.

"Arguably, security measures impacting entry into public buildings — taken in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks — are the closest parallel.

"Accordingly, there is little to guide the court in its analysis of the issue. It is, however, clear that remote attendance — as an alternative to in-person attendance — was an option during the period the challenged meetings took place.

"The net effect of this lawsuit, Wiest acknowledges, is the board's decision to return to remote meetings and discontinue in-person meetings. It is therefore difficult to see how this lawsuit strikes a blow for open government.

"But perhaps that was never the point."