Editor's note: Today marks Day 6 of
Sunshine Week, a national media initiative about the importance of
open government and freedom of information. Sunshine Week is led by
the American Society of Newspaper Editors and seeks to empower
people to play an active role in their government and give them
access to information that makes their lives better.
3-16-07 --
Don't give up. . . . Just because your public records request was
denied doesn't mean the information that you're trying to uncover
will be forever hidden under a mass of red tape. . . . And you don't
necessarily have to haul a bunch of bureaucrats into court to get
what you're after. . . . When faced with a denial, you may not need
to hire a lawyer to obtain information. On the other hand, sometimes
spoken words aren't enough to produce government documents. . . . If
an attempt to obtain public documents through a verbal request
doesn't work, a denial can be countered with a written request for
the same information. . . . Terry Francke, general counsel for
Californians Aware, and Peter Scheer, executive director of the
California First Amendment Coalition, both remarked that a written
request, unlike one that's merely spoken, requires a government body
to tell the person seeking information the legal reasons why that
information can't be released if officials choose to keep the
requested information under wraps.
3-16-07 -- In
honor of "Sunshine Week" the state Assembly has passed a series of
bills aimed at strengthening the state's Open Meetings Law,
increasing government transparency and ensuring compliance with
Freedom of Information laws. . . . According to Assembly Speaker
Sheldon Silver, the nine-bill package is intended to promote public
awareness of governmental actions and information as the best way to
foster better government through increased openness and
accountability. The legislation coincides with the second annual
Sunshine Week, March 11-17, when participating media run editorials,
columns, cartoons, public forums and news and feature stories that
drive public discussion about why open government is important to
everyone, not just journalists.. . . The lawmakers noted that the
Sunshine Week package comes less than one month after the Assembly
overwhelmingly passed legislation aimed at reforming ethics and
lobbying laws in Albany.
Access To Public Records Mandatory, Not Discretionary Sunshine Week (March 11-17)
is the news media's industry wide effort to alert the public to the
importance of open government and the right of access to public
information and public meetings.
Editorial
Through news coverage, editorials and other offerings, newspapers
and broadcasters are shining the light on the public's right to gain
access to government information. The week draws attention to the
Freedom of Information Act and to the dangers of official secrecy. .
. . The week also includes National FOI Day, March 16, marked each
year by the First Amendment Center with a major conference on access
issues. . . . Governmental agencies seems to abhor open government
laws and in some circles, spend more time trying to thwart public
access to records than they do to letting the sun shine in.
State monitoring agencies like
attorneys general and Supreme Courts comply in hindering public
access to state documents and meetings. . . . That's the finding of
the latest state-by-state annual report released today by the
Associated Press on state and Federal government openness to public
scrutiny in the U.S. . . . The series coincides with Sunshine Week,
aimed at drawing attention to the public's right to know. . . . The
report concluded that although all states have so-called "Sunshine
Laws" against breaches like closed meetings, those laws are enforced
unpredictably. Public violators "almost always walk away with
nothing more than a reprimand," the study noted. . . . State
attorneys general and Supreme Courts receive special mention for
their frequent laxity over government secrecy. "Attorneys general
are more likely to rule in favor of government offices that keep
documents secret and doors closed," the report stated. . . . The
study also notes that when government agencies were found to have
broken Sunshine Laws, state overseers like AGs and high courts were
most likely to bring a "don't do it again" punishment.
3-14-07 -- The Judicial Conference took steps
Tuesday to end "secret" dockets in federal courts and to eventually
put audio of federal court proceedings online. . . . Meeting at the
Supreme Court, the conference -- the policy-making body of the
federal judiciary -- urged all federal courts to end the practice
whereby some cases under seal "vanish" from electronic dockets and
databases. . . . When software changes are made, at least the
notation "Case Under Seal" or "Sealed v. Sealed" will appear with a
docket number, giving the media and others the ability to challenge
or examine the circumstances behind the seal, says Chief Judge
Thomas Hogan of the U.S. District Court for the District of
Columbia. . . . Media organizations in recent years have reported
that in hundreds of criminal cases, entire case files have
disappeared from electronic dockets. Last year, the Reporters
Committee for Freedom of the Press published a study showing that as
many as 18 percent of criminal cases filed in D.C. federal court
were missing or "undocketed."
3-14-07 -- By happy coincidence, a Connecticut
judge released the names on 27 ultra-secret lawsuits last Friday -
just before the start of Sunshine Week. This annual campaign by the
American Society of Newspaper Editors celebrates open government. .
. . The Judicial Branch finally identified the parties involved in
the most cryptic civil cases, those so secret that law clerks were
forbidden to acknowledge they existed. Whom do we see? . . . A few
local worthies involved in divorces, paternity suits and other
common troubles, and many cases that mean nothing without more
information. (The case files themselves will not be opened, but at
least Connecticut is getting a glimpse of who's being protected by
the courts.)
Judge's ruling on secrecy of grand-jury report on Tanner is a secret
A judge won't release his decision on releasing a grand-jury report
on prosecutor John Tanner.
Ludmilla
Lelis | Sentinel Staff Writer
3-14-07 -- A judge has decided whether a
potentially damaging grand jury report about State Attorney John
Tanner should remain secret. . . . But in a remarkable twist,
Circuit Judge Kim C. Hammond is keeping his much-anticipated ruling
a secret. . . . Hammond will not say whether he ruled in favor of
Tanner, who is trying to keep the report sealed, or
Jacksonville-based State Attorney Harry Shorstein, who wants the
report made public. . . . Shorstein would not comment on the ruling
but did promise to appeal it, which suggests Hammond favored
Tanner's position to keep the report confidential. . . . Some noted
First Amendment attorneys found the judge's move baffling, noting a
"bottom line" could be released without revealing the grand-jury
report's contents.
3-14-07 -- In an era defined by ever-improving
technology, at a time when (mis?)perceptions of crime and
accountability seem headed in opposite directions, and during a week
promoting the importance of open government, we strongly endorse a
renewed push to allow cameras in Minnesota courtrooms. . . . A
coalition of media groups — some of which the St. Cloud Times is a
part of — wants the state Supreme Court to change rules so using
cameras and audio recordings in trial courts is standard procedure.
. . . This is a good — and long-overdue — move for several reasons.
. . . First and foremost, allowing audio and video coverage in trial
courts gives people much easier access to these public proceedings.
And, yes, just like property tax information and birth and death
certificates, trials are public events, open for all to see. . . .
In fact, that's why this renewed push began as part of national
Sunshine Week, an annual effort to raise awareness about the
importance of open and transparent government in America. . . .
Indeed, why should most Minnesota court proceedings not be subject
to the same levels of openness — and accompanying accountability —
that city council, county board, legislative and congressional
meetings face?
3-9-07 --
Judges judge. Prosecutors prosecute.
And journalists, well, they do what journalists should do - get the
news and report it, good and bad. . . . Except for falling just
short of a triple hit of alliteration, it's quite an elegant
arrangement - with a bit of constitutional and First Amendment
symmetry for good measure. . . . But consider the raft of instances
lately in which judges or prosecutors have decided to step into
newsrooms in one manner or another in pursuit of notes, interviews,
videotapes or telephone conversations, or have attempted to prevent
publication or broadcast of information to readers and viewers. . .
. According to Associated Press reports, in just the past few weeks:
. . . - In Missouri, a state judge ordered two newspapers not to
publish material they had received about public utilities and air
pollution, but the order was lifted after a state appeals court
stepped in.
Political troubadour Peter Leidy has recorded what is
likely the first song ever about Wisconsin's Open Records Law. . . .
"The Open Records Blues" is a collaboration between Leidy and Bill
Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council
and news editor of Madison's Isthmus newspaper. Lueders wrote the
lyrics, such as they are, and Leidy composed the music and performed
the song. . . . "Open records and open government are some pretty
serious matters, but so is love, and a lot of silly songs have been
written about that," says Lueders. The song laments the difficulties
of obtaining records, through the story of a records requester who
is forced to sue, then made to wait, then provided with heavily
redacted records. A sample lyric:
Got God as my
witness /
Got the law on my side /
Got to wait 18 months /
For a judge to decide. /
Judge says, "Give him the information /
Don't delay no more." /
Too bad I can't remember /
What I wanted it for.
Leidy, who
performs monthly singing commentary on Wisconsin Public Television's
Here and Now, recently released a new CD, "Love & Money," to
isolated but gratifying critical acclaim. For more on his life and
work, see
www.peterleidy.com.
"The Open
Records Blues," with a running time of about 4 minutes, may be
downloaded as an MP3 file by clicking
HERE and broadcast free of charge.
First Amendment Project
a
nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to protecting and
promoting freedom of information, expression, and petition. For
nearly ten years, FAP has provided advice, educational materials,
and legal representation to its core constituency of activists,
journalists, and artists in service of these fundamental liberties.
Public Citizen
is a
national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization founded in 1971
to represent consumer interests in Congress, the executive branch
and the courts.
Public
Citizen Litigation Group,
founded in 1972, is a public interest law firm that litigates cases
at all levels of the federal and state judiciaries. They also have a
substantial practice before federal regulatory agencies. They
specialize in health and safety regulation, consumer rights,
including class actions and access to the courts, open government,
and the First Amendment, including internet free speech.
