The Sun-Herald newspapers

Why you should fight for Florida’s ‘Sunshine’ laws

Florida isn't the only state with a law that requires government meetings and records to be open to its citizens. Many states, however,
acknowledge that the Florida Government-in-the Sunshine law (which includes a 1976 amendment to the state constitution) is the nation's best.

One reason Florida's law works so well is because it is monitored and enforced by Florida’s attorney general. And it has teeth. The local state
attorney has the authority to prosecute criminal violations of the law.
Also, there are civil remedies. Florida Courts support it.

This is not the case in Ohio, which has no administrative appeals
process, nor can the Ohio attorney general or a local prosecutor investigate or enforce compliance with open records complaints. So if a governmental agency says "no," Ohio residents are out of luck.

Oregon, which considers its 1973 public records law to be a strong one, had individuals test their open records law in all 36 counties to increase public awareness. Only half the 178 requests for records in Oregon were granted by local and county officials.

Yet, earlier in two Oregon counties, Union and Baker, citizens concerned about questionable school district spending, conducted a study. Before the citizen group finished reviewing the records, several school officials left their posts and the FBI and Oregon State Police launched probes into alleged fraud.

In Arkansas, a judge accused of misconduct issued an order to brazenly prohibit publication of the testimony against him. A seven-judge State Supreme Court panel ruled he couldn't do that.

Florida's First Amendment Foundation is determined to make sure people know their rights.

Yet when agencies aren't tested, they can be difficult to deal with. A
spokesperson for the Florida Department of Transportation had to be urged to check with the department's attorney when she balked at giving out information to this newspaper.

When North Port and Sarasota County commissioners battled over who would get the money from the sale of some 2,000 lots taken for non-payment of taxes, the North Port Sun was able to see the minutes of what some tried to contend was a confidential meeting, so taxpayers could learn what was going on.

In Charlotte County, Florida's sunshine law put the Babcock Ranch deal under the public microscope, so citizens could learn of day-to-day developments.

Florida law also helped people keep up with what is going on in Murdock Village and enabled the public to stay abreast of eminent domain proceedings and who would be impacted.

Our public records laws helped expose political action committees that tried to poison the 2004 campaign of State Rep. Paige Kreegel. Those same laws make it possible — for the most part — for voters to know what special interests have helped financed a candidate’s run for office.

Openness in government is important. A St. Petersburg Times editorial recently uncovered the fact that a defense contractor was given $400,000 in tax credits in Florida and the information was withheld from the public under a confidentiality law. What is so bad about that?

The defense contractor, MZM, is the same corporation whose principal owner admitted to bribing former California Congressman Duke Cunningham and giving illegal contributions to two other U.S. representatives.
Remember, Florida's law must constantly be used and protected. As is
often said about the sharpness of the human brain as one ages, either "use it or lose it."

Reproduced courtesy of the Sun-Herald newspapers.
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