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Columns

• Sunshine: Safeguarding the Public Trust by Charlie Crist, Florida Attorney General

• Sunshine a bulwark of good government by State Reps. Dan Gelber and Jack Seiler

• Court records on the Internet: Protecting both sides of open government by Jon Kaney, First Amendment Foundation

• Time for state leaders to embrace sunshine by Barbara A. Petersen, First Amendment Foundation

• Report card mixed on public records requests by Mike Wright, Citrus County Chronicle

• Privatization closes doors to information by Steve Arthur, Citrus County Chronicle

• Internet ups the stakes on open government by Mark Lane, Daytona Beach News-Journal

• Public oversight beneficial by Pamela Hasterok, The Daytona Beach News-Journal

• Our open-records laws are for everyone, not just journalists by Mike Clark, The Florida Times-Union

• With no public records, public consciousness on important issues would have huge gaps by Joe Adams, The Florida Times-Union

• Sunshine Sunday by Tom Fiedler, executive editor of the Miami Herald

• Don't let Tallahassee pull the shades by Manning Pynn, Orlando Sentinel

• Perspective column by Margo Pope, The St. Augustine Record

Related stories

• Florida's Sunshine Sunday grows to national Sunshine Week (AP)

• Sun doesn't always shine on Florida's public records, meetings (AP)

• Florida 'sunshine law' violations since 1977 at a glance (AP)

• States do poor job of providing public records access (AP)

• Legislature to consider open records measures (AP)

• Working under the sunshine (Citrus County Chronicle)

• Sunshine law written requests (Daytona Beach News-Journal)

• Sunshine law survey (Daytona Beach News-Journal)

• Legislature considers open records exemptions (The Florida Times-Union)

• Sunshine laws not always easy (Lake City Reporter)

• Sunshine vs. your digital profile (Palm Beach Post)

• Sunshine law violations (Panama City News Herald)

• Sunshine law survey (Panama City News Herald)

 

The Independent Florida Alligator

Sunshine stay

Access a state problem with record exemptions

According to the Associated Press, Florida newspapers Sunday “urged readers to press officials for increased access.”
Sound familiar?
While we’re busy battling for student access in Student Government, news publications, media organizations and even ordinary citizens are fighting for access to state government.
The state Legislature will consider this year a number of exemptions to public access laws — or Sunshine Laws — any of which would be dangerous to the freedom of citizens and the media to obtain government records.
The Orlando Sentinel warned that exemptions could pass “that would hide business conducted by research institutions that receive state funding, conceal possible misconduct by law-enforcement agencies and cover up information about absentee ballots.”
Just as we can’t stand by and let the administration make decisions about SG without including them or let SG’s Supreme Court hold meetings without warning, well, we can’t stay quiet while those on the state level try to re-establish control over these records. Access to the information they contain is necessary for Florida citizens to keep the government accountable for its actions.
The SG Supreme Court believes these access laws do not apply to them. If the Legislature allows these exemptions to take effect, the court easily will be able to argue that it is similarly exempted. But after the online voting debacle, who rightfully can insist that the court can be trusted to meet in secret? Students must be allowed the opportunity to attend these meetings if they are to hold any merit.
Unfortunately, the problem doesn’t stop at UF or even Florida: As poor as the situation seems here, the Sunshine State is recognized as providing more access to public records than most.
But that’s not good enough. This doesn’t change the fact that the SG Supreme Court is holding secret meetings, the administration is forcing decisions upon SG, and the state Legislature, if it does not act appropriately by turning down these exemptions, will continue to offer a poor role model in complying with the spirit of the Sunshine Laws.

 

Reproduced courtesy of The Independent Florida Alligator.
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