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Bradenton Herald
Here comes the sun
Government must remain open to public scrutiny
The great British philosopher Sir Francis Bacon is credited with coining the phrase, "Knowledge is power." The words ring particularly true in relation to Florida's Government-in-the-Sunshine law, and the state's annual Sunshine Sunday event, intended to make every citizen more aware of the freedom of information guaranteed by the Florida Constitution.
" Knowledge is power" has been borrowed by many other political figures, including President George W. Bush, since Bacon's death in 1626. But the truism is no less significant today, regardless of the source, and is especially applicable to the government process. It is through knowledge that the people gain and keep control of the government, and through secrecy that we, little by little, lose control.
Why is control of government so vital to the people? Why not trust our elected officials to handle the affairs of state without the ever-present eyes of the populace scrutinizing their every move?
Once more, the philosophy of Bacon comes to play, when he urged "full investigation in all cases, avoiding theories based on insufficient data."
Bacon believed in the immutable bylaws of scientific investigation. He left no stone unturned in his quest for truth. It is this basic principle that lies behind the Sunshine law. Essentially, the more information open to the eyes of the public, the easier it is to monitor the progress, or lack thereof, of our elected officials as they tackle the complicated task of administering to the business of state government.
Today is the third annual Sunshine Sunday in Florida, and the Herald joins newspapers across the state in urging all lawmakers to uphold this cherished constitutional right. The event, organized by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors, is designed to shed light on the vital role of open public records.
Remember, laws, regulations and programs initiated by the Florida Legislature impact each of us in our everyday lives. From the Florida KidCare insurance program, to manatee protection legislation; from security at our state's airports and ports, to public drinking water policies and protections — government has a direct relationship to each of us. How that government functions, and how we are able to witness and monitor those functions is essential to our personal welfare.
The Florida open-records law was founded on the basic principle that unfettered access to all aspects of government is vital to our democracy, our freedoms and the integrity and honesty of government. This is not to say that all elected officials would automatically become irresponsible, maniacal, self-serving beasts if the legislative process was suddenly plunged into darkness. But the deep pockets and heavy hands of special interests can become extremely powerful agents of change in the absence of public watchfulness.
Every year, in fact, special interests attempt to whittle away at certain aspects of the Sunshine law, proposing exemptions to public records which often could be harmful to the public good. For example, the medical lobby last year attempted for a second time to exempt from public exposure "adverse incident reports" that physicians are required to file with the Department of Health when dangerous mistakes are made during medical procedures. Pharmacists also would have been exempted from such reporting. Fortunately, a wise and watched Legislature did not adopt these publicly ridiculed exemptions.
Obviously, if these measures had passed in the dark of night, you and I would have been denied access to information that might have helped us avoid a potentially deadly medical mistake. Such is the power of knowledge, and to deny this type of knowledge to the people is clearly not how our government is designed to function.
We still live in a relatively free society, where most information is easily accessible to the people. It is through documents like the Government-in-the-Sunshine law that we will retain this essential window into the legislative process.
Power to the people.