For use Sunday, March 15

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A representative from Gadsden County, J.W. Mahaffey, introduced a bill in the Legislature in 1909 requiring that “all state, county and municipal records shall at all times be open for a personal inspection of any citizen of Florida and those in charge of such records shall not refuse this privilege to any citizen.”

Violators were subject to removal from office or impeachment. The bill became law without opposition on June 1. Surprisingly, it received little attention from the press.

Later that year, a new national journalism group, Sigma Delta Chi, selected Florida’s law as a model to persuade other states to open their records to the public. But not until 1967 would Florida truly emerge as a leader in open government with the passage of the Government-in-the-Sunshine Law, thanks, in part, to the efforts of Sigma Delta Chi.

Source: The First Amendment Foundation

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Sunshine Sunday 2009

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Faces behind the 100th anniversary of Florida's public records law

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New material will be posted daily. Later this week, we will post a nationwide poll on the public’s attitudes about FOIA.

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