Government Usually Wins 'Sunshine' Cases

[Amelia]

Government Usually Wins 'Sunshine' Cases

By ROBERT TANNER

AP National Writer

Mar 10, 2002

Though laws in every state say government records and meetings must be open to all, reality often falls far short: Laws are sporadically enforced, penalties for failure to comply are mild and violators almost always walk away with nothing more than a reprimand, an Associated Press survey of all 50 states has found.

Even in the handful of states that monitor such cases, when citizens appeal over lack of access to information, the government usually wins - and keeps public business secret.

Why does it matter?

Advocates for open government say public trust is at the heart of our democracy, that scrutiny keeps public officials honest, and that information is the foundation of informed debate.

"We're in an era, clearly, where there's a lot of distrust in government," said Bill Chamberlin of the Marion Brechner Citizen Access Project at the University of Florida. "The more the public officials are open in their conversation and show the documentation that they're basing decisions on, it's going to help the public have faith in what officials are doing."

The AP's survey - conducted to coincide with Sunshine Week, a nationwide effort to draw attention to the public's right to know - gathered material from each state on its open government laws and penalties. Additionally, for the years 2004 to 2006, it sought more detail on open government complaints in states with the best record-keeping. The AP found that fewer than 10 states effectively track what happens in such cases.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/S...mp;SECTION=HOME

[Dr. Shane]

A lot of public construction projects are awarded by a ranking criteria, not to the low bidder. Often times when I have requested the score cards of each contractor to see how all the bidders were ranked, it has taken weeks and lots of follow-up phone calls to get it. However I have never been denied the information.