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Freedom of Information Laws and Policies:
Research Materials.
Extracts of Brechner Report, Volume 28, Number 6, June 2004.
Extracts of other Brechner Center materials.
compiled by Jeremy Lewis, PhD, revised 21 June 2004.


Extracts of Volume 28, Number 6 A monthly report of mass media law in Florida
Published by The Brechner Center for Freedom of Information College of Journalism and Communications University of Florida
June 2004
ACCESS RECORDS
Judge orders release of Cheney files
WASHINGTON – U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman ordered the Bush administration to release thousands of pages of records on Vice President Dick Cheney’s energy task force deliberations. Friedman ruled that records kept at the Energy and Interior departments must be disclosed to the public under the Freedom of Information Act. The agencies have until June 1 to release  files that detail the work of Cheney’s energy task force.
“This is a real affirmation of the public’s right to know how its government is operating,” Sharon Buccino, a lawyer for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), said. The NRDC’s case is just one of three legal efforts to obtain information on the task force, which developed an energy policy at the beginning of the Bush administration. Environmental groups argued that Cheney and his team met behind closed doors with lobbyists from the oil, coal, gas and nuclear industries.
The General Accounting Office, the research branch of Congress, first filed a lawsuit seeking information on who met with Cheney. A federal judge ruled against the agency, and it dropped the claim. Two other suits have moved forward. One involving the Sierra Club and Judicial Watch is now before the Supreme Court, and the other, which involves NRDC and Judicial Watch, is pending further action.
(4/02/04)


Attorney General’s Office: Open government mediation
By Pat Gleason
Back Page
A catering business proprietor asks a city recreation department for reservation data regarding park facilities.
The director refuses to release the records unless the business owner writes a letter explaining why she wants
the information.
In another part of the state, a homeowner, concerned about stadium lighting at a nearby high school, asks the school district to produce records disclosing whether it obtained a zoning variance to install the lights. The district says that it will not provide the zoning records because the stadium lighting plans constitute a “blueprint” which is confidential pursuant to a statutory exemption passed in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center.
A journalist requests copies of automobile crash reports from a law enforcement agency but is told that these reports are confidential for 60 days. The reporter points out that the statute specially exempts news organizations from the 60-day waiting period but the agency refuses to change its position. A former state employee is unable to obtain a copy of a report that he prepared when he worked at the agency.
In each of these cases, the citizen obtained the records after contacting the Attorney General’s Office to participate in open government mediation. The mediation program is established in section 16.60, Florida Statutes, as an alternative for the resolution of public access disputes. The program is voluntary and both sides must agree to consider mediation if the program is to be initiated. In 2003, 149 cases were handled in the mediation program. Of these, 110 or 74 percent were successfully resolved through the program. While a majority of mediation requests came from private citizens or organizations, small businesses, journalists and governmental agencies also used the program to resolve public access controversies. In most cases, the process concludes with the citizen receiving records that were requested. However, in a few instances, the program helps to explain why the agency is not required to produce the records. In all cases, however, the goal is the same—to provide an informal process that allows a citizen and a governmental agency to resolve a public access controversy without having to resort to expensive and time- consuming litigation.
The following are some of the issues addressed in the mediation program: When both parties are committed to resolving a public access dispute through negotiation, open government mediation can be a cost-effective and efficient way to achieve a positive result for both sides. The resolution of public access controversies without litigation results in a cost savings to the governmental agencies and helps the public to secure access to public records and meetings, as mandated by Florida statutes and the Constitution.
Pat Gleason is General Counsel in the Office of Attorney General Charlie Crist. She is also the editor of the Government in the Sunshine Manual. For more information about mediation, you may contact her at:
pat_gleason@oag.state.fl.us or (850) 245-0203.


 

Dr. Sandra Chance, "Florida Sunshine Laws Under Attack"
From http://brechner.org/news_editorial_attack.asp
"Editorial by Dr. Sandra Chance. Florida's government-in-the-sunshine laws came close to being the next casualty in the U.S. war on terrorism."

                          While the U.S. Congress was busy passing the new USA Patriot
                          Act, which allows the government to establish secret courts,
                          collect all kinds of private information, keep even more secrets,
                          and suspend important parts of the Bill of Rights, Florida's
                          legislature was working hard not to be outdone. In the process,
                          Florida's government-in-the-sunshine laws came close to being
                          the next casualty in the U.S. war on terrorism during the last
                          special session. Unfortunately, many of the measures which
                          didn't pass in December are currently being considered by our
                          state legislators.

                          No one disputes the need, in these difficult and uncertain times,
                          for state and local governments to take extra security measures
                          to protect the public health and safety. However, Florida's
                          legislature considered what could only be called Draconian
                          measures that went far beyond any legitimate need to safeguard
                          the public interest. Not only were many of the proposals contrary
                          to Florida's tradition of openness, they were hastily considered,
                          rarely debated and passed with blinding speed.

                          In November, Florida's Legislature was called into a special
                          session to deal with a projected budget deficient. Legislators,
                          however, added a number of new exemptions to Florida's
                          Government-in-the-Sunshine laws to an already full agenda.

                          This came as a surprise as the state's Sunshine laws already
                          contain many safeguards to prohibit disclosure of sensitive police
                          intelligence and security plans. Before the special session began,
                          law enforcement officials had the means to withhold information
                          that might compromise investigations or endanger the public.

                          Despite this, at least a dozen bills were introduced during the
                          special session and the Senate changed its rules to allow for
                          secret meetings. The new rule authorizes the state's 40 senators
                          to meet in secret to discuss terrorism prevention. The initial
                          proposal by the Senate Rules Committee would have allowed the
                          Senate president to call secret meetings and keep senators'
                          votes secret as well. The new rule requires the Senate to keep a
                          record of any closed meeting. However, the Senate president
                          could seal the records and they would remain sealed until a
                          Senate president authorized their release. According to reports
                          on the voice vote, the rule changes passed almost unanimously,
                          with only one vote against them.

                          This rule allows closed Senate sessions for the first time in more
                          than 30 years and flies in the face of Florida's constitutional
                          amendment guaranteeing open meetings and records. Obviously,
                          senators need to be reminded that our state Open Meetings Law
                          came as a direct result of the Senate's closed meetings to discuss
                          reapportionment in the 1960s.

                          Reapportionment will dominate the next legislative session.
                          Floridians will be watching closely. That is, if the Senate doesn't
                          change its rules again to make those meetings secret, too.

                          The Senate also considered bills that would have given law
                          enforcement officials broad exemptions to the state's public
                          records laws and give the state police more powers to detain
                          suspected terrorists. In addition, the Senate seriously considered
                          a bill that would have allowed state police to temporarily detain a
                          material witness for up to four days and shield its actions from
                          the Public Records Law.

                          Much to its credit, the House did not amend its meeting rules. In
                          addition, House Speaker Tom Feeney encouraged
                          representatives to resist making significant changes to the open
                          government laws in the rushed special session. Fortunately, for
                          the most part, reason prevailed over political maneuvering and
                          pandering to public fear. As a result, the House passed four new
                          exemptions to the Public Records Law.

                          The Governor quickly signed the bills into law. The new laws
                          make secret the location of drugs stockpiled to counter
                          bioterrorists attacks, emergency security plans for hospitals and
                          state buildings, security system plans, and police requests for
                          records from other agencies. For the most part, the new laws
                          clarify and expand existing exemptions to explicitly cover security
                          issues.

                          Given the current climate, it's understandable that legislators,
                          working hard to protect citizens, would support any measure that
                          might ensure security and prevent further terrorists attacks.

                          However, many of the measures introduced and quickly passed
                          were radical reactions to an obviously difficult situation. One has
                          to wonder whether some of the state's legislators were hiding
                          behind the understandable public fear of terrorism as they
                          attempted to gut one of the country's strongest Sunshine laws.
                          Many of these bills will be considered within the next few weeks.

                          Legislators were unable to provide any evidence that access truly
                          compromises safety. In reality, just the opposite may be true.
                          Access to public records since the Sept. 11 attacks has given the
                          public valuable insight into governmental actions, where and how
                          to strengthen state and national security systems, and
                          emergency and public health response programs. This information
                          is vital to ensuring our ability to hold our government officials
                          accountable for the decisions they made before Sept. 11 and the
                          decisions they'll make in the wake of the terrorists' attacks.

                          Come to think of it, maybe that's what some legislators are afraid
                          of.
 



Gannett New Jersey Newspaper Group Wins FOI Award
                          October 25, 2000
                          FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                          Contact: Sandra F. Chance, Director
                          Brechner Center for Freedom of Information
                          (352) 392-2273
                          GAINESVILLE, FL--

                          A revealing freedom of information series written by seven New
                          Jersey newspapers won this year's Joseph L. Brechner Center for
                          Freedom of Information award, according to Sandra Chance,
                          director of the Brechner Center. The series, titled "Public Access
                          Denied," detailed the abysmal compliance rate with the state's
                          public record law.

                          The series will be recognized at the 15th Annual Brechner Center
                          for Freedom of Information award celebration Nov. 20. Two
                          reporters, Jason Method and Frank Kummer, will accept the
                          $3,000 award for the Gannett New Jersey papers. The New
                          Jersey investigation, one of the largest tests of public records
                          compliance in the nation, documents a "cult of secrecy" which
                          leaves citizens at the mercy of government officials. The
                          newspapers sent more than 80 surveyors to 600 governmental
                          bodes to see how ordinary citizens were treated by their public
                          servants. They found that government officials in New Jersey
                          routinely violated the state's Open Public Records Act. For
                          example, the series reported that obviously public records, such
                          as budgets, payrolls and overtime reports, were closed off to
                          ordinary citizens more often than not.

                          "Officials can no longer ignore these
                          findings and dismiss them as isolated incidents. Violations of the
                          law are rampant everywhere and this series proves the extent of
                          the problem in New Jersey," Chance said. The seven papers that
                          participated in the award-winning series were: the Asbury Park
                          Press, the Courier-News, the Courier Post, The Daily Record, the
                          Daily Record, the Home News Tribune, and the Ocean County
                          Observer.

                         New Jersey has one of the weakest public records law in the
                          country, according to Chance of the Brechner Center. ...

                          Within three months of the series, the governor
                          publicly supported a new public access reform bill, which has
                          passed the New Jersey Assembly and is pending before the
                          state's senate. ...

A similar project, focusing on Arkansas' Freedom of Information Act received an honorable mention.


Indiana Newspapers Win 1999 FOI Award
                          November 15, 1999
                          FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                          Contact: Sandra F. Chance, Director, Brechner Center for Freedom of Information
                          (352) 392-2273

GAINESVILLE, FL-- A ground-breaking freedom of information series written by seven Indiana newspapers won this year's Joseph L. Brechner Center for Freedom of Information award, according to Sandra Chance, director of the Brechner Center. The five-part series, titled "The State of Secrecy: Indiana flunks the test on access," detailed the abysmal compliance rate with the state's public record law.

                          The series will be recognized at the 14th Annual Brechner Center
                          for Freedom of Information award celebration Nov. 15. Kyle
                          Niederpruem, a reporter for one of the papers and the president
                          of the Society of Professional Journalists, accepted the award.
                          The papers designated the Indiana Freedom of Information
                          organization, FOIndiana, as the recipient of the $3,000 prize.

                          The Indiana investigation documents how many government
                          officials routinely violate the law by refusing to release public
                          records. For example, the series reported that almost
                          three-fourths of the state's sheriff's departments refused to
                          release crime reports. In addition, the papers were able to
                          document and report the way people who requested public
                          records were threatened. According to the study, they were lied
                          to, harassed, repeatedly questioned and told that court orders
                          and subpoenas were necessary before the records could be
                          released.

                          "This series represents the best example of how newspapers can
                          work with private citizens to learn more about their government,"
                          according to Chance. "It's one thing to hear the stories about
                          how citizens are denied access to records. It's another thing to
                          actually go out there and prove what we've long suspected in a
                          scientific, documented way.

                          "Officials can no longer ignore these findings and dismiss them as
                          isolated incidents. Violations of the law are rampant everywhere
                          and this series proves the extent of the problem in Indiana,"
                          Chance said.

                          The seven papers that participated in the award-winning series
                          were: The Evansville Courier, The Journal Gazette, South Bend
                          Tribune, The Indianapolis Star/News, The Star Press, Tribune
                          Star, and The Times of Northwest Indiana....

                          The series also revealed that many public officials were ignorant
                          of the laws and that little was being done to train them. After the
                          series ran, Indiana's governor created a public access counselor
                          position. The counselor answers questions about the law and
                          issues advisory opinions. So far, a large majority of requests
                          have come from the public, despite repeated comments by public
                          officials that this is only a "media" issue, Theobald said.

                          The project was lauded by the judges for its excellent writing and
                          research, as well as its impact and innovativeness. ...

                          Another judge congratulated the papers for their "sober, detailed
                          and ultimately frightening look at how government officials at all
                          levels blatantly disregarded the Freedom of Information law as if
                          it were nothing more than junk mail."



Florida FOI campaign of poster style ads, text extracted without images.
Samples:

Date Rape ad:
Public access laws won’t tell you her date’s GPA...[image]
but they will tell you he was convicted of rape.
Access to public information is a basic right in Florida. We have a long and rich
tradition of open government. Our Constitution and state “Sunshine Laws”
guarantee us the right to attend public meetings and see public records so we can
make the best decisions for ourselves, our families, and our communities.
However, each year the Florida Legislature passes new exemptions to these
laws, sealing more records. Some exemptions are necessary. Many are not.
Public access laws are based on the democratic principle that the more we know,
the better decisions we can make. So, the next time you hear about a new exemption,
ask if it will help you make a more informed decision.
Brechner Center for Freedom of Information
Florida Society of Newspaper Editors

Nursing home abuse ad:
Public access laws could have prevented his mistreatment...[image]
but nursing home abuse records are now sealed.
Access to public information is a basic right in Florida. We have a long and rich
tradition of open government. Our Constitution and state “Sunshine Laws”
guarantee us the right to attend public meetings and see public records so we can
make the best decisions for ourselves, our families, and our communities.
However, each year the Florida Legislature passes new exemptions to these
laws, sealing more records. Some exemptions are necessary. Many are not.
Public access laws are based on the democratic principle that the more we know,
the better decisions we can make. So, the next time you hear about a new exemption,
ask if it will help you make a more informed decision.
Brechner Center for Freedom of Information
Florida Society of Newspaper Editors

Surgery ad:
Public access laws won’t tell you why this woman needed surgery... [image]
but they will tell you the name of the surgeon at fault.
Access to public information is a basic right in Florida. We have a long and rich
tradition of open government. Our Constitution and state “Sunshine Laws”
guarantee us the right to attend public meetings and see public records so we can
make the best decisions for ourselves, our families, and our communities.
However, each year the Florida Legislature passes new exemptions to these
laws, sealing more records. Some exemptions are necessary. Many are not.
Public access laws are based on the democratic principle that the more we know,
the better decisions we can make. So, the next time you hear about a new exemption,
ask if it will help you make a more informed decision.
Brechner Center for Freedom of Information
Florida Society of Newspaper Editors