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The Herald, Bradenton It's Sunshine Week Guard people's right to watch government As he ended his Gettysburg Address, President Abraham Lincoln prayed that "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth," and expressed hope for "a new birth of freedom" following the horrific Civil War. In Lincoln’s words we find a simple truth — government belongs to the people, not the other way around. Power must always derive from the people, not from those to whom we offer the privilege of public service. Sadly, that truth too often gets trampled in the day-to-day process of governing. Public servants forget whom they serve and create excuses for shutting them out. It is for this reason that Florida long ago created one of the strongest open-government statues in the nation. Often referred to as the "Sunshine Law," the Florida open-records statute was instituted on the sound, fundamental principle that government openness is vital to our democracy. Our individual freedoms could be threatened unless we are ensured of the integrity and honesty of government. And because that right has been increasingly threatened by overzealous or self-serving politicans, the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors three years ago instituted Sunshine Sunday, a day on which the state's news media call attention to the importance of the public's right to access government records and threats to that right. Exemptions galore This year, the American Society of Newspaper Editors is taking the concept national and renamed it Sunshine Week. The added exposure is needed. In the three years since FSNE created Sunshine Sunday, more than 300 proposed exemptions to the state law were defeated after exposure to the light of in-depth debate. This year, Florida lawmakers have already introduced more than 40 proposed new or continued exemptions to the Sunshine Law, with more expected in the coming weeks. Indeed, there are some 62 pages of exemptions to the Sunshine Law placed on the books in the last 94 years — about 850 supposedly valid reasons to ignore the law in certain circumstances. Certainly, some of these reasons are valid. Many others, however, are not. The impulse for secrecy is not a Florida phenomenon. The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, have been used as an excuse to close more of the federal government's operations to the public. "National security" is the all-purpose excuse to withhold records and cloak meetings in secrecy, giving government officials unprecedented opportunity to trample rights and reward special interests. Through this campaign, The Herald and newspapers throughout the country hope to call attention to the vital role that public access plays in the intricate system of checks and balances set up by our Founding Fathers to protect democracy from abuse by special interests. It is in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights, inherent in the phrase "the right of the people. . .to petition the government for a redress of grievances." Without knowledge of government's activities, obtained from free access to its records and deliberations, the public cannot effectively petition. Too many politicians don’t understand or agree with the principles of the Florida Sunshine Law. They see the law as a nuisance — a legal crowbar used by the media to pry open and peer behind the doors of the governmental process. Perhaps it is human nature for some elected officials to gain a sense of ownership of their elected posts. Arrogance can set in after a few successful elections, and humility can give way to conceit. Constant vigilance As representatives of the average citizens, who might not have the time or strong interest to attend government meetings, the press' role in monitoring our elected officials is all important. We must be constantly vigilant and wary of the deep pockets and heavy hands of special interests, which can become extremely powerful agents of bias and deceit in the absence of public watchfulness. Each of the more than 40 new proposals in the Legislature to restrict public access will be thoroughly examined and critiqued by the FSNE, and the results will be made available to state newspapers, including The Herald. We will publish objective analysis of these exemptions, and once again stand up for the citizens against those who might not have our best interests at heart. Last fall, Florida courts made a strong statement about the importance of respecting the Sunshine Law. Former Florida Senate President W.D. Childers, known as the "dean" of the Senate for his dominance of that body in a 30-year career, went to jail for violating the law as an Escambia County commissioner. He was the first person sentenced to jail time for a Sunshine Law violation. Childers' crime: Discussing public business behind closed doors with fellow Escambia County commissioners. We can only hope that his punishment, a 60-day sentence, will serve as a strong deterrent to others who would prefer to conduct the public's business in secret. Protecting our fundamental right to monitor the work of those we elect to represent our interests is essential to securing our future health, safety and welfare.
Reproduced courtesy
of The Herald, Bradenton. |
