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Approaching its 40th birthday, the Freedom of Information Act is looking more than a little worn around the edges. In fact, what it needs is a week of good, solid sunshine, and this week, Sunshine Week 2006, (March 12-18) is just the ticket.
The current administration has been characterized by open government observers – both conservatives and liberals – as one of the most secretive in recent history; a stance adopted even before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The past several years have been particularly difficult. The first visible symptom came in October 2001, when then-Attorney General John Ashcroft issued a memo to federal agencies telling them to no longer presume the public had a right to government information and to look instead for a legal basis to turn down FOIA requests.
Until recently, the evidence linking the Ashcroft memo to increased government secrecy was anecdotal. That is until the Coalition of Journalists for Open Government analyzed FOIA requests and denials in 2000 and 2004.
Sunshine Week 2005 got lawmakers’ attention. In Washington, Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) coordinated the introduction of and hearings for their FOIA reform legislation, the Open the Government Act of 2005, to Sunshine Week.
In at least two states, Georgia and New York, Sunshine Week coverage spurred the legislature to ensure that access to government information was not further restricted or delayed. A dozen governors and three state legislatures issued proclamations in support of Sunshine Week.
Sunshine Week is not about journalists, it’s not about partisan politics, it’s about the public and how important protecting and promoting open government is to individuals and their communities. Sunshine Week is not about protecting journalists’ rights, it’s about the right of all citizens to know what their government is doing – and why.
While over-arching secrecy at the federal level is troubling for a nation, the epidemic of hidden government is reaching people at the state and community levels at troubling rates.
We’ve seen that here with the recent ruling by Superior Court Judge Zoro Guice that Jackson County’s commissioners held an illegal closed session in January 2005.
“This is not just an issue for the press. It’s an issue for the public,” says Cox Newspapers’ Washington Bureau Chief Andy Alexander, chairman of the American Society of Newspaper Editors’ Freedom of Information Committee. “An alarming amount of public information is being kept secret from citizens, and the problem is increasing by the month. Not only do citizens have a right to know, they have a need to know.”
Sunshine Week’s goal is to raise public awareness of this trend that is hurting democracy.
– Most information from Sunshine Week’s Web site, www.sunshineweek.org
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